I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1550 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a public awareness 

campaign with respect to human papillomavirus, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Ms. CASTOR of Florida (for herself and Ms. SCHRIER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a public awareness campaign with respect to human 

papillomavirus, and for other purposes. 

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 Resources 

5 to Expand Vaccination, Education and New Treatments 

6 for HPV Cancers Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PREVENT HPV 

7 Cancers Act of 2021’’. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The human papillomavirus (referred to in 

2 this Act as ‘‘HPV’’) causes six different types of 

3 cancer (anal, cervical, oropharynx, penile, vaginal, 

4 and vulvar). 

5 (2) Almost 35,000 cases of cancer are caused 

6 by HPV each year impacting both women and men. 

7 (3) About 90 percent of cervical and anal can8 cers are thought to be caused by HPV. 

9 (4) Black and Hispanic women are more likely 

10 to get HPV-associated cervical cancer than women 

11 of other races and ethnicities. 

12 (5) Approximately 60 to 70 percent of 

13 oropharynx cancer is tied to HPV. 

14 (6) Most HPV infections that can lead to can15 cer can be prevented by vaccines. 

16 (7) HPV vaccines can also help prevent recur17 rent respiratory papillomatosis, anal and genital 

18 warts. 

19 (8) Vaccination for HPV is approved for men 

20 and women. 

21 (9) The vaccines are most effective if adminis22 tered when an individual is between the ages of 9 

23 and 12. 

24 (10) Only about half of adolescents have com25 pleted the HPV vaccine series. 


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1 (11) Certain populations, like adolescents in 

2 rural areas and males are less likely to receive the 

3 HPV vaccine. 

4 (12) Health providers’ recommendation of the 

5 vaccine is critical to getting adolescents vaccinated 

6 SEC. 3. HPV VACCINE PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. 

7 Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 247b) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(o) HPV VACCINE PUBLIC AWARENESS CAM11 PAIGN.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

13 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

14 Control and Prevention, shall carry out a national 

15 campaign to— 

16 ‘‘(A) increase awareness of the importance 

17 of HPV vaccination; 

18 ‘‘(B) combat misinformation about HPV 

19 vaccination; and 

20 ‘‘(C) increase HPV vaccination rates and 

21 completion of the vaccine series, especially 

22 among males. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the na24 tional campaign required by paragraph (1), the Sec25 retary shall consult with the National Academy of 


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1 Medicine, including health care providers and public 

2 health associations, nonprofit organizations (includ3 ing those that represent communities most impacted 

4 by HPV-associated cancers and communities with 

5 low vaccination rates), State and local public health 

6 departments, elementary and secondary education 

7 organizations (including student and parent organi8 zations), and institutions of higher education, to so9 licit advice on evidence-based information for policy 

10 development and program development, implementa11 tion, and evaluation. 

12 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The national campaign 

13 required by paragraph (1) shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) include the use of evidence-based 

15 media and public engagement; 

16 ‘‘(B) be carried out through competitive 

17 grants or cooperative agreements awarded to 

18 one or more private, nonprofit entities with a 

19 history developing and implementing similar 

20 campaigns; 

21 ‘‘(C) include the development of culturally 

22 and linguistically competent resources that shall 

23 be tailored for— 

24 ‘‘(i) communities with high rates of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) unvaccinated individuals, in2 cluding males; 

3 ‘‘(II) individuals with unique 

4 health care needs (such as lesbian, 

5 gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer 

6 individuals); 

7 ‘‘(III) individuals with high rates 

8 of cervical cancer and other HPV-as9 sociated cancers (such as Black and 

10 Hispanic women); and 

11 ‘‘(IV) populations impacted by 

12 the increase in oropharynx cancers; 

13 ‘‘(ii) rural communities; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) such other communities as the 

15 Secretary determines appropriate; 

16 ‘‘(D) include the dissemination of HPV 

17 vaccination information and communication re18 sources to health care providers and health care 

19 facilities (including primary care providers, 

20 community health centers, dentists, obstetri21 cians, and gynecologists), and such providers 

22 and such facilities for pediatric care, State and 

23 local public health departments, elementary and 

24 secondary schools, and colleges and universities; 


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1 ‘‘(E) be complementary to, and coordi2 nated with, any other Federal efforts with re3 spect to HPV vaccination; 

4 ‘‘(F) include message testing to identify 

5 culturally competent and effective messages for 

6 behavioral change; and 

7 ‘‘(G) include the award of grants or coop8 erative agreements to State, local, and Tribal 

9 public health departments— 

10 ‘‘(i) to engage with communities speci11 fied in subparagraph (C), local education 

12 agencies, health care providers, community 

13 organizations, or other groups the Sec14 retary determines are appropriate to de15 velop and deliver effective strategies to in16 crease HPV vaccination rates; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) to disseminate culturally and lin18 guistically competent resources on the Na19 tional Breast and Cervical Cancer Early 

20 Detection Program and where an indi21 vidual can access the screenings locally. 

22 ‘‘(4) OPTIONS FOR DISSEMINATION OF INFOR23 MATION.—The national campaign required by para24 graph (1) may— 

25 ‘‘(A) include the use of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) social media, television, radio, 

2 print, the internet, and other media; 

3 ‘‘(ii) in-person or virtual public com4 munications; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) recognized, trusted figures; 

6 ‘‘(B) be targeted to specific groups and 

7 communities specified in paragraph (3)(C); and 

8 ‘‘(C) include the dissemination of informa9 tion highlighting each of the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) Recommended age range to get 

11 the HPV vaccine. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The benefits of getting vac13 cinated against HPV, including the poten14 tial to not acquire HPV-associated cancers. 

15 ‘‘(iii) HPV vaccine safety and the sys16 tems in place to monitor such safety. 

17 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

19 this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

20 2021 through 2025.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. STATE IMMUNIZATION INFORMATION SYSTEM EN22 HANCEMENT. 

23 Section 317(k) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 247b(k)) is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(E) State immunization information sys7 tems.’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

12 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(E) State immunization information sys15 tems.’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(5) In addition to any funds made available 

18 under subsection (j) to carry out this subsection, 

19 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

20 this subsection $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

21 2021 through 2025.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. EXPANDING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION WITH RE2 SPECT TO HPV-ASSOCIATED CANCERS. 

3 Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 409K. HPV-ASSOCIATED CANCERS. 

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

8 the Director of the National Cancer Institute, shall ex9 pand, intensify, and coordinate programs to conduct and 

10 support research with respect to HPV-associated cancers. 

11 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER INSTITUTES.— 

12 The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Na13 tional Cancer Institute, shall coordinate activities carried 

14 out by the Director pursuant to subsection (a) with similar 

15 activities carried out by other national research institutes 

16 and agencies of the National Institutes of Health to the 

17 extent that those Institutes and agencies have responsibil18 ities that are related to HPV-associated cancers. 

19 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

20 purposes of carrying out this section, there is authorized 

21 to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

22 2021 through 2025. 

23 ‘‘(d) HPV-ASSOCIATED CANCER.—In this section, 

24 the term ‘HPV-associated cancer’ means cancer associated 

25 with the human papillomavirus.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER EARLY DETECTION 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1510(a) of the Public 

4 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300n–5(a)) is amended by 

5 striking ‘‘and $275,000,000 for fiscal year 2012’’ and in6 serting ‘‘$275,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, and 

7 $300,000,000 for each fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 

8 (b) COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—Section 1501(d) of 

9 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300k(d)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

12 ‘‘2020’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘2020’’ and inserting ‘‘2025’’. 

14 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

15 Not later than 2025, the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

17 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of 

19 the Senate a report— 

20 (1) that contains a qualitative assessment of 

21 the campaign under subsection (o) of section 317 of 

22 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b) and 

23 the activities conducted under such campaign; and 

24 (2) on, with respect to the impact on cancer as25 sociated with human papillomavirus— 


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1 (A) the activities conducted under sub2 section (o) of section 317 of the Public Health 

3 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b), as added by sec4 tion 3; 

5 (B) research conducted under subsection 

6 (k) of such section, pursuant to the amend7 ments made by section 4; and 

8 (C) section 409K of the Public Health 

9 Service Act, as added by section 5. 

Æ 


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