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TO DECLARE JANUARY 18, 2017, "SC UNITED IN TEAL & WHITE LOBBY DAY" IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND ENCOURAGE ALL CITIZENS TO BE AWARE OF THE NEED FOR EARLY SCREENING FOR CERVICAL CANCER.
Whereas, January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and SC UNITED in Teal & White Lobby Day will highlight women's health services in the State and is expected to attract volunteers, survivors, and health professionals from across the State, showing their unity in the fight against cervical cancer with distinctive teal and white clothing, in order to promote early screening awareness for cervical cancer at the State House; and
Whereas, SC UNITED in Teal & White is the first effort by a coalition of the state's managed care organizations (MCO) to collaborate on the promotion of any health initiative; and
Whereas, the purpose of the SC United Teal & White Campaign is to bring together a statewide coalition of MCO's, nonprofit organizations, commercial insurers, and citizens, as well as governmental, medical, academic, and advocacy organizations, in a collaborative effort to turn the State teal and white as a part of the cervical-cancer awareness fight; and
Whereas, the campaign hopes to provide and encourage the completion of cervical-cancer screenings, to increase knowledge of cervical-cancer screening and screening guidelines, and to participate in Pap Chat, a simple way to initiate meaningful dialogue around cervical-cancer awareness, promotion, and prevention strategies; and
Whereas, in 2013, South Carolina ranked fifteenth in the nation for cervical-cancer incidence and twelfth in the nation for cervical-cancer mortality; and
Whereas, nationally, women with cervical cancer have a five-year relative survival rate of ninety-two percent when diagnosed in the early stages of this disease, but only forty-one percent of the cervical cancers diagnosed in South Carolina between 2009 and 2013 were early-stage cancers; and
Whereas, according to the 2014 South Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (BRFSS), almost seventy-six percent of South Carolina women aged eighteen years and older reported having cervical-cancer screening within the past three years, slightly higher than the national average; and
Whereas, primary diagnoses of cervical cancer for inpatient hospitalizations cost more than 6.6 million dollars in South Carolina during 2014, with an average charge per stay of almost 43.5 thousand dollars. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, declare January 18, 2017, "SC United in Teal & White Lobby Day" in South Carolina and hereby encourage all citizens to be aware of the need for early screening for cervical cancer.
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