II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 406 

To establish the Public Health Information and Communications Advisory 

Committee for purposes of providing recommendations and reports, and 

to support educational initiatives on communication and dissemination 

of information during public health emergencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish the Public Health Information and Communications Advisory Committee for purposes of providing recommendations and reports, and to support educational 

initiatives on communication and dissemination of information during public health emergencies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Public 

5 Health Information Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING PUBLIC HEALTH COMMUNICA2 TION. 

3 Section 319F of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 247d–6) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b), to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATION AND COMMU7 NICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab9 lish an advisory committee to be known as the Pub10 lic Health Information and Communications Advi11 sory Committee (referred to in this subsection as the 

12 ‘Advisory Committee’). 

13 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall 

14 make recommendations to the Secretary and report 

15 on— 

16 ‘‘(A) critical aspects of communication and 

17 dissemination of scientific and evidence-based 

18 public health information during public health 

19 emergencies, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) the role and impact of misin21 formation on the response to such public 

22 health emergencies; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the role of risk communication 

24 before and during such public health emer25 gencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) other relevant factors, as the 

2 Secretary determines appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(B) information from academic institu4 tions, community-based organizations, and 

5 other nongovernmental organizations related to 

6 evidence-based or evidence-informed strategies 

7 and best practices to effectively communicate 

8 and disseminate such information; and 

9 ‘‘(C) strategies to improve communication 

10 and dissemination of scientific and evidence11 based public health information to the public, 

12 and, as appropriate, to address misinformation 

13 during public health emergencies, including 

14 strategies to— 

15 ‘‘(i) identify the most effective meth16 ods for the dissemination of information 

17 during a public health emergency; 

18 ‘‘(ii) determine best practices and 

19 communicate information to populations 

20 that may be impacted by such misinforma21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) adapt approaches for the dis23 semination of information, as appropriate, 

24 to address emerging trends related to mis25 information. 


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1 ‘‘(3) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee 

2 shall be composed of— 

3 ‘‘(A) appropriate Federal officials, ap4 pointed by the Secretary, who shall serve as 

5 nonvoting members; and 

6 ‘‘(B) individuals, appointed by the Sec7 retary, with expertise in public health, medicine, 

8 communications, related technology, psychology, 

9 national security, and other areas, as the Sec10 retary determines appropriate, who shall serve 

11 as voting members. 

12 ‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary shall re13 view the recommendations of the Advisory Com14 mittee and, not later than 180 days after receipt of 

15 the report under paragraph (2), shall submit to the 

16 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen17 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy 

18 and Commerce of the House of Representatives a re19 port describing any actions planned by the Secretary 

20 related to the communication and dissemination of 

21 scientific and evidence-based public health informa22 tion, including addressing misinformation, as appro23 priate. 


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1 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Committee 

2 shall terminate 4 years after the date of enactment 

3 of the Promoting Public Health Information Act.’’; 

4 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub5 section (g); 

6 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(f) EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

10 assistance for the development of evidence-based ini11 tiatives to promote fact-based public health and 

12 medical science information to the public and edu13 cate the public on how to identify misinformation, 

14 disinformation, and credible information. 

15 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the initia16 tives under this subsection, the Secretary shall con17 sult with— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Public Health Information and 

19 Communications Advisory Committee estab20 lished under subsection (b); 

21 ‘‘(B) experts in the fields of public health 

22 and medicine, communication, technology, be23 havioral science, and other relevant disciplines 

24 as appropriate; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) relevant Federal agencies, as appro2 priate. 

3 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The initiatives estab4 lished under this subsection shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) be an evidence-based or evidence-in6 formed media and public engagement initiative 

7 that includes partnerships with national and 

8 local organizations; 

9 ‘‘(B) ensure that official scientific and 

10 public health guidance is accessible and commu11 nicated effectively to the public with specific 

12 focus on populations that are underserved or 

13 with low health literacy; and 

14 ‘‘(C) ensure that activities are tailored to15 wards subgroups that are being targeted for 

16 health misinformation and disinformation, or 

17 are especially susceptible to health misinforma18 tion and disinformation, in a culturally- and lin19 guistically-appropriate manner.’’; and 

20 (4) by adding at the end of subsection (g), as 

21 so redesignated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(3) FUNDING FOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND

23 EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES.—There are authorized 

24 to be appropriated $45,000,000 for each of fiscal 


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1 years 2023 through 2027 for purposes of carrying 

2 out subsections (b) and (f).’’. 

Æ 


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