BILL NUMBER: S5506

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 viruses

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This legislation adds the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 viruses to the Department of
Health's Health Care and Wellness Education and Outreach Program.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one of this legislation adds new paragraph (p) to include the
diagnosis, treatment and prevention of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2, including
information and assistance on where to find community support services,
to § 207 of the Public Health Law.

Section two of this legislation provides for an effective date of 120
days after it shall have become law. Effective immediately, the addi-
tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
              

the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to
be made and completed on or before such effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

HTLV types I and II, or human T-Lymphotropic viruses, were the first
retroviruses discovered, originally detected in the early 1980s, but
still remain relatively unheard of today. Similar to HIV, HTLV types I
and II can be transmitted from mother to child, primarily through
breastfeeding, by sexual contact, by blood transfusion, and by sharing
contaminated needles. Symptoms develop subtly and can be mistaken for
other conditions, but over the years the disease evolves chronically and
can eventually lead to immobility and loss of urinary and sensory func-
tions. Considered an endemic in the Caribbean, southern Japan, Africa,
the Middle East, South America and Melanesia, the exact prevalence of
HTLV types I and II in the United States is still unknown.

In the late 1980s, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
issued a recommendation that all blood donation centers in the Country
screen for HTLV types I and II, with all donors who are found to be
infected, permanently deferred from donating. By 1993, the Centers for
Disease Control issued official "Recommendations for Counseling Persons
Infected with Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus Types I and II" to provide
current information to infected persons as well as guidelines for how to
prevent transmission.

Unfortunately, since then, little public health literature on HTLV types
I and II has been developed, produced and disseminated, leaving the
public at large uneducated and unaware. Furthermore, only a few States
in the Nation require the reporting of positive cases of HTLV types I
and II, preventing us from truly understanding the scopeof this disease
in the United States.

This legislation will ensure that populations at high-risk of contract-
ing HTLV types I or II will receive reliable information explaining
these viruses.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.7533 - 2017; A.8811-a - 2018

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

This bill does not require any appropriation and will have minimal
financial implications, with the Commissioner of Health responsible for
promulgating all rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the
legislation.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.