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Committee advances bill designating March 4 as HPV Awareness Day
Summary
The committee unanimously moved HB 4135, which designates March 4 as Oregon’s HPV Awareness Day to encourage vaccination and screening; legislators and public-health experts emphasized prevention and lower vaccination rates in parts of the state.
The Senate Rules Committee advanced House Bill 4135 on March 3, a bipartisan measure to designate March 4 of each year as HPV Awareness Day in Oregon to boost vaccination and cervical cancer screening.
Representative Anna Sharp read testimony on behalf of Representative Vanessa Hartman, recounting personal and constituent experiences and noting Oregon’s HPV vaccination completion rates for adolescents and screening rates for women. "The HPV vaccine prevents more than 90 percent of these cancers caused by the virus," Sharp read from sponsor remarks.
Public-health advocates, clinicians and legislators—including Dr. Sue Rickey Smith and Senator Lisa Reynolds—urged support. Dr. Smith, a former public-health nurse, emphasized vaccination and screening as preventive tools that can sharply reduce HPV-related cancers, and Senator Reynolds, a practicing pediatrician, noted Oregon’s prior steps to require insurer coverage for relevant workups and urged timely action.
Supporters said the designation is nonbinding and intended to encourage Oregon Health Authority, county health departments, school-based health centers and community clinics to share medically accurate, age-appropriate and culturally responsive information. The committee closed the public hearing and moved the bill to a work session, then voted to send it to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.
