II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 324 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out 

activities relating to neglected diseases of poverty. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to carry out activities relating to neglected diseases of 

poverty. 

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 ‘‘Study, Treat, Observe, 

5 and Prevent Neglected Diseases of Poverty Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘STOP Neglected Diseases of Poverty Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds as follows: 

9 (1) Neglected diseases of poverty, many of 

10 which are also known as ‘‘neglected tropical disVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:21 Feb 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S324.IS S324

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1 eases’’, are a group of diseases that disproportion2 ately affect vulnerable populations living in extreme 

3 poverty. 

4 (2) More than 1,000,000,000 people worldwide 

5 are affected by neglected diseases of poverty. 

6 (3) Neglected diseases of poverty can be trans7 mitted— 

8 (A) through contaminated food, water, and 

9 soil; 

10 (B) through parasites, insects, blood trans11 fusion, and organ transplant; and 

12 (C) in some cases, congenitally. 

13 (4) Neglected diseases of poverty have a high 

14 rate of morbidity and mortality and can lead to 

15 health complications such as heart disease, epilepsy, 

16 asthma, blindness, developmental delays, stillbirth, 

17 low birthweight, and gastrointestinal disorders. 

18 (5) Some neglected diseases of poverty can be 

19 asymptomatic at the outset, but debilitating, dan20 gerous, and deadly symptoms can emerge over time 

21 or under certain conditions, such as pregnancy. It is 

22 estimated that millions of people are living with 

23 these diseases and are not aware that they are in24 fected. 


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1 (6) For tens of thousands of individuals, dis2 eases of poverty that are chronic and neglected can 

3 manifest into severe illness later in life. 

4 (7) Neglected diseases of poverty place a sig5 nificant financial burden on affected individuals and 

6 communities due to the health care costs associated 

7 with these diseases and because these diseases limit 

8 individuals’ productivity and ability to be active con9 tributors to their communities. This burden could 

10 largely be prevented through early screening and 

11 treatment, which are highly cost effective. 

12 (8) Since its inception in 2006, the Neglected 

13 Tropical Diseases Program at the United States 

14 Agency for International Development and its part15 ners, including the Centers for Disease Control and 

16 Prevention, have delivered more than 2,800,000,000 

17 treatments to more than 1,400,000,000 people. 

18 (9) Due to the support provided by the United 

19 States Agency for International Development and its 

20 partners, 315,000,000 people live in regions where 

21 they are no longer at risk of contracting lymphatic 

22 filariasis, and 67,000,000 people live in regions 

23 where they are no longer at risk of contracting tra24 choma. 


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1 (10) Although the exact prevalence and burden 

2 of these diseases in the United States is unknown 

3 because of stigma and limited reporting, surveil4 lance, and awareness, one study estimates that there 

5 are 12,000,000 individuals living with at least one 

6 neglected disease of poverty throughout the country. 

7 These diseases disproportionately affect racial and 

8 ethnic minorities living in poverty and in regions 

9 where water quality and sanitation are substandard. 

10 (11) The major neglected diseases of poverty in 

11 the United States that predominantly occur among 

12 those living in poverty are the following: toxocariasis, 

13 cysticercosis, Chagas disease, toxoplasmosis, tricho14 moniasis, hookworm infection, and Dengue Fever 

15 and related arbovirus infections. 

16 (12) There is a lack of diagnostic and treat17 ment programs, including for early diagnosis and 

18 treatment, for neglected diseases of poverty. These 

19 programs would be highly cost effective and would 

20 significantly reduce the burden of morbidity and 

21 mortality of these diseases. 

22 (13) Funding for research, preventive strate23 gies, vaccines and the development of treatments, di24 agnostic tests, and other therapeutics for neglected 

25 diseases of poverty in the United States is limited. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that there is a need to 

3 study the prevalence and incidence of neglected diseases 

4 of poverty in the United States, identify preventive meth5 ods to combat neglected diseases of poverty, conduct re6 search that will lead to more treatments and diagnostic 

7 tests for neglected diseases of poverty, and supply health 

8 care providers, public health professionals, and affected in9 dividuals and communities with educational resources on 

10 neglected diseases of poverty. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF NEGLECTED DISEASES OF POV12 ERTY. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘neglected diseases of poverty’’ 

14 has the meaning given such term in section 399OO(e) of 

15 the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 5. 

16 SEC. 5. PROGRAMS RELATING TO NEGLECTED DISEASES 

17 OF POVERTY. 

18 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘PART W—PROGRAMS RELATING TO NEGLECTED 

2 DISEASES OF POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES 

3 ‘‘SEC. 399OO. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON NEGLECTED 

4 DISEASES OF POVERTY IN THE UNITED 

5 STATES. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of enactment of the Study, Treat, Observe, 

8 and Prevent Neglected Diseases of Poverty Act, the Sec9 retary shall establish an Interagency Task Force on Ne10 glected Diseases of Poverty in the United States to provide 

11 advice and recommendations to the Secretary and Con12 gress to prevent, diagnose, and treat neglected diseases 

13 of poverty in the United States. 

14 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—The task force shall be comprised 

15 of representatives of— 

16 ‘‘(1) the Department of Health and Human 

17 Services, including the Assistant Secretary for 

18 Health and representatives from the Centers for 

19 Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug 

20 Administration, the Health Resources and Services 

21 Administration, the National Institutes of Health, 

22 and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Devel23 opment Authority; 

24 ‘‘(2) the Department of State; 

25 ‘‘(3) the United States Agency for International 

26 Development; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the Department of Agriculture; 

2 ‘‘(5) the Department of Housing and Urban 

3 Development; 

4 ‘‘(6) the Environmental Protection Agency; and 

5 ‘‘(7) any other Federal agency that has juris6 diction over, or is affected by, neglected diseases of 

7 poverty policies and projects, as determined by the 

8 Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(c) INITIAL REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of the Study, Treat, Ob12 serve, and Prevent Neglected Diseases of Poverty 

13 Act, the task force shall submit a report to the Sec14 retary based on a review of relevant literature to 

15 identify gaps in efforts, and guide future efforts, to 

16 prevent, diagnose, and treat neglected diseases of 

17 poverty in the United States, particularly 

18 toxocariasis, cysticercosis, Chagas disease, toxoplas19 mosis, trichomoniasis, hookworm infection, and Den20 gue Fever and related arbovirus infections. The re21 port shall include a summary of findings with re22 spect to— 

23 ‘‘(A) estimated prevalence of neglected dis24 eases of poverty in the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(B) geographic distribution and major 

2 distribution routes of neglected diseases of pov3 erty in the United States; 

4 ‘‘(C) disparities with respect to the burden 

5 of neglected diseases of poverty in the United 

6 States; 

7 ‘‘(D) risk factors for neglected diseases of 

8 poverty in the United States; 

9 ‘‘(E) existing tools for surveillance, preven10 tion, diagnosis, and treatment of neglected dis11 eases of poverty in the United States; 

12 ‘‘(F) current patient pathways and bar13 riers to access information and tools for surveil14 lance, prevention, testing, diagnosis, and treat15 ment of neglected diseases of poverty in the 

16 United States; 

17 ‘‘(G) comorbidities associated with ne18 glected diseases of poverty in the United States; 

19 ‘‘(H) awareness among health care pro20 viders and public health professionals regarding 

21 neglected diseases of poverty in the United 

22 States; 

23 ‘‘(I) public awareness of neglected diseases 

24 of poverty in the United States, particularly 

25 among high-risk groups; 


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1 ‘‘(J) the economic burden of neglected dis2 eases of poverty in the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(K) strategies and lessons learned from 

4 the United States Agency for International De5 velopment Neglected Tropical Diseases Pro6 gram, particularly those that are most applica7 ble to efforts to prevent, diagnose, and treat ne8 glected diseases of poverty in the United States. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the initial 

10 report under paragraph (1), the task force shall con11 sult with appropriate external parties, including 

12 States, local communities, scientists, researchers, 

13 health care providers, individuals diagnosed with a 

14 neglected disease of poverty, public health profes15 sionals, and national and international 

16 nongovermental organizations. 

17 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—The task force shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) review and evaluate the current actions 

19 and future plans of each applicable agency rep20 resented on the task force as described in subsection 

21 (b) to prevent, diagnose, and treat neglected diseases 

22 of poverty in the United States; 

23 ‘‘(2) identify current and potential areas of 

24 partnership and coordination between Federal agen25 cies and develop a unified implementation plan to 


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1 prevent, diagnose, and treat neglected diseases of 

2 poverty in the United States; 

3 ‘‘(3) make efforts to apply applicable strategies 

4 and lessons learned from the United States Agency 

5 for International Development Neglected Tropical 

6 Diseases Program when developing the implementa7 tion plan under paragraph (2); 

8 ‘‘(4) establish specific goals within and across 

9 Federal agencies to prevent, diagnose, and treat ne10 glected diseases of poverty in the United States, in11 cluding metrics to assess progress towards reaching 

12 those goals; 

13 ‘‘(5) coordinate plans to communicate research 

14 and relevant accomplishments across Federal agen15 cies and with States and local communities relating 

16 to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ne17 glected diseases of poverty; 

18 ‘‘(6) develop consensus guidelines for health 

19 care providers and public health professionals for the 

20 prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of toxocariasis, 

21 cysticercosis, Chagas disease, toxoplasmosis, tricho22 moniasis, hookworm infection, Dengue Fever and re23 lated arbovirus infections, and other neglected dis24 eases of poverty; 


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1 ‘‘(7) biannually make recommendations to Con2 gress on strategies for the development of affordable 

3 tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat neglected dis4 eases of poverty, including drugs, diagnostics, and 

5 vaccines; and 

6 ‘‘(8) in developing the guidelines and rec7 ommendations under paragraphs (6) and (7), con8 sult with external parties, including States, local 

9 communities, scientists, researchers, health care pro10 viders and public health professionals, national and 

11 international nongovernmental organizations, and 

12 centers of excellence with expertise in neglected dis13 eases of poverty, including the centers of excellence 

14 described in section 399OO–5. 

15 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF NEGLECTED DISEASES OF POV16 ERTY.—In this part, the term ‘neglected diseases of pov17 erty’— 

18 ‘‘(1) means chronic and disabling diseases that 

19 are caused by parasites, bacteria, and other patho20 gens and that primarily impact people living in ex21 treme poverty; and 

22 ‘‘(2) includes the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) Chagas disease. 

24 ‘‘(B) Cysticercosis. 

25 ‘‘(C) Toxocariasis. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Toxoplasmosis. 

2 ‘‘(E) Trichomoniasis. 

3 ‘‘(F) Hookworm infection. 

4 ‘‘(G) Dengue Fever and related arbovirus 

5 infections. 

6 ‘‘(H) Other neglected tropical diseases, in7 cluding those defined by the World Health Or8 ganization, such as the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) Buruli ulcer. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Chikungunya. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Dracunculiasis. 

12 ‘‘(iv) Echinococcosis. 

13 ‘‘(v) Foodborne trematodiases. 

14 ‘‘(vi) Human African trypanosomiasis. 

15 ‘‘(vii) Leishmaniases. 

16 ‘‘(viii) Leprosy. 

17 ‘‘(ix) Lymphatic filariasis. 

18 ‘‘(x) Mycetoma. 

19 ‘‘(xi) Onchocerciasis. 

20 ‘‘(xii) Rabies. 

21 ‘‘(xiii) Schistosomiasis. 

22 ‘‘(xiv) Soil-transmitted helminthiases. 

23 ‘‘(xv) Taeniasis and 

24 neurocysticercosis. 

25 ‘‘(xvi) Trachoma. 


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1 ‘‘(xvii) Yaws. 

2 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–1. SURVEILLANCE REGARDING NEGLECTED 

3 DISEASES OF POVERTY IN THE UNITED 

4 STATES. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

6 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre7 vention, shall award grants to States to carry out activities 

8 relating to implementing a surveillance system to deter9 mine the prevalence, incidence, and distribution of ne10 glected diseases of poverty, particularly those that most 

11 impact individuals in the United States, including 

12 toxocariasis, cysticercosis, Chagas disease, toxoplasmosis, 

13 trichomoniasis, hookworm infection, and Dengue Fever 

14 and related arbovirus infections. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants under 

16 subsection (a), the Secretary shall use the findings in the 

17 initial report of the Interagency Task Force on Neglected 

18 Diseases of Poverty in the United States under section 

19 399OO(c) to identify and prioritize geographic locations 

20 and communities that have the highest estimated preva21 lence of, or have populations at greatest risk of acquiring, 

22 neglected diseases of poverty, particularly those described 

23 in subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–2. SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUALS AT RISK FOR 

2 NEGLECTED DISEASES OF POVERTY. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

4 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre5 vention, shall award grants or cooperative agreements to 

6 Federally qualified health centers to implement and ana7 lyze the guidelines developed under section 399OO(d)(6). 

8 ‘‘(b) INITIAL AWARDS.—The Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) using the findings in the initial report of 

10 the Interagency Task Force on Neglected Diseases 

11 of Poverty in the United States under section 

12 399OO(c), identify the geographic locations in the 

13 United States that have the highest estimated preva14 lence of, or have populations at greatest risk of ac15 quiring, neglected diseases of poverty, particularly 

16 those that most impact individuals in the United 

17 States, including toxocariasis, cysticercosis, Chagas 

18 disease, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, hookworm in19 fection, and Dengue Fever and related arbovirus in20 fections; and 

21 ‘‘(2) prioritize Federally qualified health centers 

22 located in such geographic locations in awarding ini23 tial grants or cooperative agreements under sub24 section (a). 

25 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF FEDERALLY QUALIFIED

26 HEALTH CENTER.—In this section, the term ‘Federally 


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1 qualified health center’ has the meaning given the term 

2 in section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–3. EDUCATION OF MEDICAL AND PUBLIC 

4 HEALTH PERSONNEL AND THE PUBLIC RE5 GARDING NEGLECTED DISEASES OF POV6 ERTY IN THE UNITED STATES. 

7 ‘‘The Secretary shall consult with the Assistant Sec8 retary for Health, the Director of the Centers for Disease 

9 Control and Prevention, and the Administrator of the 

10 Health Resources and Services Administration, profes11 sional organizations and societies, and such other public 

12 health officials as may be necessary, including the centers 

13 of excellence described in section 399OO–5, to— 

14 ‘‘(1) develop and implement educational pro15 grams to increase the awareness of health care pro16 viders and public health professionals with respect to 

17 the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of neglected 

18 diseases of poverty and strategies to prevent, diag19 nose, and treat such diseases; and 

20 ‘‘(2) develop and implement educational pro21 grams to increase the awareness of the public with 

22 respect to the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of 

23 neglected diseases of poverty and strategies to pre24 vent such diseases. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–4. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW 

2 DRUGS, VACCINES, AND DIAGNOSTICS. 

3 ‘‘Consistent with the recommendations of the Inter4 agency Task Force on Neglected Diseases of Poverty in 

5 the United States established under section 399OO, the 

6 Secretary shall, directly or through awards of grants or 

7 cooperative agreements to public or private entities, pro8 vide for the conduct of research, investigations, experi9 ments, demonstrations, and studies, including late-stage 

10 and translational research, in the health sciences that are 

11 related to— 

12 ‘‘(1) the development of affordable therapeutics, 

13 including vaccines, against neglected diseases of pov14 erty; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the development of affordable medical 

16 point-of-care diagnostics to detect neglected diseases 

17 of poverty. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–5. NEGLECTED DISEASES OF POVERTY CEN19 TERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

20 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting jointly 

21 through the Director of the National Institutes of Health, 

22 may enter into cooperative agreements with, and make 

23 grants to, public or private nonprofit entities to pay all 

24 or part of the cost of planning, establishing, or strength25 ening, and providing basic operating support for, one or 

26 more centers of excellence for research into, training in, 


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1 and development of diagnosis, prevention, control, and 

2 treatment methods for neglected diseases of poverty in the 

3 United States, including tools to support prevention. 

4 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a cooper5 ative agreement or grant under subsection (a), an entity 

6 shall have a demonstrated record of research on neglected 

7 diseases of poverty. 

8 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 

9 that activities under this section are coordinated with 

10 similar activities of the Federal Government relating to 

11 neglected diseases of poverty, including the task force es12 tablished under section 399OO. 

13 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—A cooperative agreement or 

14 grant awarded under subsection (a) may be used for— 

15 ‘‘(1) staffing, administrative, and other basic 

16 operating costs, including such patient care costs as 

17 are required for research; 

18 ‘‘(2) clinical training, including training for al19 lied health professionals, continuing education for 

20 health professionals and allied health professions 

21 personnel, and information programs for the public 

22 with respect to neglected diseases of poverty; 

23 ‘‘(3) research and development programs, in24 cluding the end-to-end research and development of 

25 new treatments, diagnostics, and vaccines; 


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1 ‘‘(4) epidemiological surveillance and trans2 mission studies capabilities; and 

3 ‘‘(5) health education programs to raise aware4 ness and reduce stigma of neglected diseases of pov5 erty among high-risk populations. 

6 ‘‘(e) PERIOD OF SUPPORT; ADDITIONAL PERIODS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A cooperative agreement or 

8 grant under this section may be provided for a pe9 riod of not more than 5 years. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.—The period specified in 

11 paragraph (1) may be extended by the Secretary for 

12 additional periods of not more than 5 years if— 

13 ‘‘(A) the operations of the center of excel14 lence involved have been reviewed by an appro15 priate technical and scientific peer review 

16 group; and 

17 ‘‘(B) such group has recommended to the 

18 Secretary that such period be extended. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 ‘‘To carry out this part, there are authorized to be 

21 appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

22 year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

Æ 


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