Florida Senate - 2023                                    SB 1350
       
       
        
       By Senator Rouson
       
       
       
       
       
       16-01553-23                                           20231350__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to health disparities; amending s.
    3         381.735, F.S.; specifying that efforts of the Office
    4         of Minority Health and Health Equity to improve access
    5         to and delivery of health services to racial and
    6         ethnic minority populations include efforts to
    7         eliminate racial disparities in vaccination rates in
    8         this state; providing an effective date.
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, it is reported that nationally, between January
   11  2020 and July 2021, an estimated 37.1 million doses of
   12  recommended vaccines were not administered to eligible
   13  adolescents and adults, and
   14         WHEREAS, racial and ethnic minority populations have
   15  consistently lower vaccination rates than white populations,
   16  reportedly due to less awareness of vaccines and lack of
   17  information on when they should receive vaccines, and
   18         WHEREAS, disparities in access and awareness also vary by
   19  vaccine type, with 28 percent of African-American adults in this
   20  state reported as having received a pneumococcal vaccine in
   21  2019, compared to 42.1 percent of white adults, and another
   22  survey finding that human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine
   23  awareness was significantly higher in surveyed white
   24  participants than in racial and ethnic minority participants,
   25  and
   26         WHEREAS, as of July 2022, COVID-19 vaccination rates for
   27  African-American individuals were 18 percentage points below
   28  those for white individuals in this state, and
   29         WHEREAS, providing targeted education and awareness of
   30  routine adult vaccinations among racial and ethnic minority
   31  populations in this state through evidence-based strategies can
   32  increase uptake in these communities and improve vaccine
   33  coverage parity between them, NOW, THEREFORE,
   34  
   35  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   36  
   37         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
   38  381.735, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   39         381.735 Office of Minority Health and Health Equity.—
   40         (2) The office shall coordinate with agencies,
   41  organizations, and providers across this state to do all of the
   42  following:
   43         (b) Develop mechanisms that support better information
   44  dissemination and education about health disparities which lead
   45  to improved access to and delivery of health care services to
   46  racial and ethnic minority populations in this state. Such
   47  mechanisms include, but are not limited to, those that support
   48  efforts to eliminate racial disparities in vaccination rates in
   49  this state through improved information dissemination and
   50  education on the importance of vaccinations and the availability
   51  of such vaccines.
   52         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.