Public health countermeasures to a bioterrorist attack

The Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, and in consultation with relevant public and private entities, shall develop core health and medical response curricula and trainings by adapting applicable existing curricula and training programs to improve responses to public health emergencies. medical management of casualties, taking into account the needs of at-risk individuals; public health aspects of public health emergencies; mental health aspects of public health emergencies; national incident management, including coordination among Federal, State, local, tribal, international agencies, and other entities; and protecting health care workers and health care first responders from workplace exposures during a public health emergency. On a periodic basis, products prepared as part of the program shall be rigorously tested and peer-reviewed by experts in the relevant fields. take into account continuing professional education requirements of public health and healthcare professions; and cooperate with State, local, and tribal accrediting agencies and with professional associations in arranging for students enrolled in the program to obtain continuing professional education credit for program courses. The Secretary may provide for the dissemination and teaching of the materials described in paragraphs (1) and (2) by appropriate means, as determined by the Secretary. The education and training activities described in subparagraph (A) may be carried out by Federal public health, medical, or dental entities, appropriate educational entities, professional organizations and societies, private accrediting organizations, and other nonprofit institutions or entities meeting criteria established by the Secretary. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary may carry out activities directly or through the award of grants and contracts, and may enter into interagency agreements with other Federal agencies. In coordination with the working group under subsection (a), the Secretary shall establish advisory committees in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) to provide expert recommendations to assist such working groups in carrying out their respective responsibilities under subsections (a) and (b). For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish an advisory committee to be known as the National Advisory Committee on At-Risk Individuals and Public Health Emergencies (referred to in this paragraph as the “Advisory Committee”). the preparedness of the health care (including mental health care) system to respond to public health emergencies as they relate to at-risk individuals; needed changes to the health care and emergency medical service systems and emergency medical services protocols to meet the special needs of at-risk individuals; and changes, if necessary, to the national stockpile under section 300hh–12 of this title to meet the emergency health security of at-risk individuals. The Advisory Committee shall be composed of such Federal officials as may be appropriate to address the special needs of the diverse population groups of at-risk populations. The Advisory Committee terminates six years after June 12, 2002. For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish an advisory committee to be known as the Emergency Public Information and Communications Advisory Committee (referred to in this paragraph as the “EPIC Advisory Committee”). The EPIC Advisory Committee shall make recommendations to the Secretary and report on appropriate ways to communicate public health information regarding bioterrorism and other public health emergencies to the public. The EPIC Advisory Committee shall be composed of individuals representing a diverse group of experts in public health, medicine, communications, behavioral psychology, and other areas determined appropriate by the Secretary. The Secretary shall review the recommendations of the EPIC Advisory Committee and ensure that appropriate information is disseminated to the public. The EPIC Advisory Committee terminates one year after June 12, 2002. The Secretary may establish 20 officer positions in the Epidemic Intelligence Service Program, in addition to the number of the officer positions offered under such Program in 2006, for individuals who agree to participate, for a period of not less than 2 years, in the Career Epidemiology Field Officer program in a State, local, or tribal health department that serves a health professional shortage area (as defined under section 254e(a) of this title), a medically underserved population (as defined under section 254b(b)(3) of this title), or a medically underserved area or area at high risk of a public health emergency as designated by the Secretary. The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to institutions of higher education, including accredited schools of public health, or other nonprofit private entities to establish or maintain a network of Centers for Public Health Preparedness and Response (referred to in this subsection as “Centers”). coordinate relevant activities with applicable State, local, and Tribal health departments and officials, health care facilities, and health care coalitions to improve public health preparedness and response, as informed by the public health preparedness and response needs of the community, or communities, involved; prioritize efforts to implement evidence-informed or evidence-based practices to improve public health preparedness and response, including by helping to reduce the transmission of emerging infectious diseases; and use funds awarded under this subsection, including by carrying out any activities described in paragraph (3). identifying, translating, and disseminating promising research findings or strategies into evidence-informed or evidence-based practices to inform preparedness for, and responses to, chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats, including emerging infectious diseases, and other public health emergencies, which may include conducting research related to public health preparedness and response systems; improving awareness of such evidence-informed or evidence-based practices and other relevant scientific or public health information among health care professionals, public health professionals, other stakeholders, and the public, including through the development, evaluation, and dissemination of trainings and training materials, consistent with section 300hh–1(b)(2) of this title, as applicable and appropriate, and with consideration given to existing training materials, to support preparedness for, and responses to, such threats; utilizing and expanding relevant technological and analytical capabilities to inform public health and medical preparedness and response efforts; expanding activities, including through public-private partnerships, related to public health preparedness and response, including participation in drills and exercises and training public health experts, as appropriate; and providing technical assistance and expertise that relies on evidence-based practices, as applicable, related to responses to public health emergencies, as appropriate, to State, local, and Tribal health departments and other entities pursuant to paragraph (2)(A). In awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under this subsection, the Secretary shall support not fewer than 10 Centers, subject to the availability of appropriations, and ensure that such awards are equitably distributed among the geographical regions of the United States. the epidemiology and pathogenesis of such pathogens; the sequencing of the genomes, or other DNA analysis, or other comparative analysis, of priority pathogens (as determined by the Director of the National Institutes of Health in consultation with the working group established in subsection (a)), in collaboration and coordination with the activities of the Department of Defense and the Joint Genome Institute of the Department of Energy; the development of priority countermeasures; and other relevant areas of research; The Secretary shall give priority under this section to the funding of research and other studies related to priority countermeasures. In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider using the biomedical research and development capabilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in conjunction with that Department’s affiliations with health-professions universities. When advantageous to the Government in furtherance of the purposes of such paragraph, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to achieve such purposes. a priority to treat, identify, or prevent infection by a biological agent or toxin listed pursuant to section 262a(a)(1) of this title, or harm from any other agent that may cause a public health emergency; or a priority to treat, identify, or prevent conditions that may result in adverse health consequences or death and may be caused by the administering of a drug, biological product, device, vaccine, vaccine adjuvant, antiviral, or diagnostic test that is a priority under subparagraph (A). $5,000,000 to carry out paragraphs (1) through (4); and $7,000,000 to carry out paragraph (5); to carry out subsection (c), $3,000,000; and to carry out subsection (d), $31,000,000. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2008 and each subsequent fiscal year. the recommendations and findings of the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism under section 319F(c)(2) of the Public Health Service Act [probably means section 319F(b)(2), 42 U.S.C. 247d–6(b)(2)]; the recommendations and findings of the EPIC Advisory Committee under section 319F(c)(3) of such Act [probably means section 319F(b)(3), 42 U.S.C. 247d–6(b)(3)]; the characteristics that may render a rural community uniquely vulnerable to a biological attack, including distance, lack of emergency transport, hospital or laboratory capacity, lack of integration of Federal or State public health networks, workforce deficits, or other relevant characteristics; the characteristics that may render areas or populations designated as medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 254b]) uniquely vulnerable to a biological attack, including significant numbers of low-income or uninsured individuals, lack of affordable and accessible health care services, insufficient public and primary health care resources, lack of integration of Federal or State public health networks, workforce deficits, or other relevant characteristics; the recommendations of the Secretary with respect to additional legislative authority that the Secretary determines is necessary to effectively strengthen rural communities, or medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330 of such Act); and the need for and benefits of a National Disaster Response Medical Volunteer Service that would be a private-sector, community-based rapid response corps of medical volunteers.” The public health and medical response training program may include course work related to— The Secretary and the Secretary of Defense shall— The Advisory Committee shall provide recommendations regarding— To be eligible to receive an award under this subsection, an entity shall submit to the Secretary an application containing such information as the Secretary may require, including a description of how the entity will— The Centers established or maintained under this subsection shall use funds awarded under this subsection to carry out activities to advance public health preparedness and response capabilities, which may include— With respect to pathogens of potential use in a bioterrorist attack, and other agents that may cause a public health emergency, the Secretary, taking into consideration any recommendations of the working group under subsection (a), shall conduct, and award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements for, research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, and studies in the health sciences relating to— For purposes of this section, the term “priority countermeasure” means a drug, biological product, device, vaccine, vaccine adjuvant, antiviral, or diagnostic test that the Secretary determines to be— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section for fiscal year 2007— to carry out subsection (a)— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [June 12, 2002], the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Secretary’) shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report concerning— (Source: (July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, § 319F, as added Pub. L. 106–505, title I, § 102, Nov. 13, 2000, 114 Stat. 2321; amended Pub. L. 107–188, title I, §§ 104(a) 105, 108, 111(3), 125, June 12, 2002, 116 Stat. 605, 606, 609, 611, 614; Pub. L. 108–276, § 2(d), July 21, 2004, 118 Stat. 842; Pub. L. 109–417, title III, §§ 301(d), (e), 304, Dec. 19, 2006, 120 Stat. 2854, 2855, 2859; Pub. L. 113–5, title II, § 203(a), Mar. 13, 2013, 127 Stat. 175; Pub. L. 117–328, div. FF, title II, § 2231(a), Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5752.))