Reps. Brinks, Gay-Dagnogo, Schor, Hoadley, Moss, Faris, Driskell, Pagan, Banks, Townsend, Talabi, Liberati, Plawecki, Smiley, Yanez, Dianda, Lane, Chirkun, Derek Miller, Geiss, Love, Brunner, Cochran, Irwin, Guerra, Greig, Robinson, Sarah Roberts, Kivela, Kosowski, Durhal, Byrd, Singh, Darany, Phelps, Greimel, Zemke, Canfield, Kelly, LaVoy and Price offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 130.

            A resolution to declare August 2015 as Immunization Awareness Month in the state of Michigan.

            Whereas, Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that once routinely killed or harmed tens of thousands of infants, children, and adults; and

            Whereas, Vaccine-preventable diseases have a costly impact, resulting in doctors' visits, hospitalizations, and premature deaths; and

            Whereas, Maintaining high immunization rates protects the entire state by interrupting the transmission of disease-causing bacteria or viruses; and

            Whereas, Vaccine-preventable diseases cause 1.7 million deaths among children worldwide each year; and

            Whereas, Influenza and pneumonia are responsible for over 50,000 deaths annually in the United States and are responsible for an over 225,000 hospitalizations per year; and

            Whereas, HPV causes about 17,000 cancers in women and about 9,000 cancers in men each year, resulting in 4,000 women dying annually from cervical cancer; and

            Whereas, The House of Representatives reaffirms our nation’s continuing commitment to public education relating to immunization and to maintenance of strong immunization programs for people of all ages within our health care systems; and

            Whereas, The House of Representatives, in keeping with the goals and ideals of “National Immunization Month,” encourages individuals to receive recommended immunizations and seeks increased community awareness of the benefits of immunization; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That that the members of this legislative body declare August 2015 as Immunization Awareness Month in the state of Michigan. We call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.