I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1797 
To facilitate effective research on and treatment of neglected tropical diseases, 
including Ebola, through coordinated domestic and international efforts. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 15, 2015 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. SALMON, Mr. JOHN-
SON of Georgia, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr. WALBERG) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs 
and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To facilitate effective research on and treatment of neglected 
tropical diseases, including Ebola, through coordinated 
domestic and international efforts. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘End Neglected Trop-
ical Diseases Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 4. Findings. 
Sec. 5. Definition. 
Sec. 6. Rule of construction. 
TITLE I—FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
Sec. 101. Expansion of USAID NTDs Program. 
Sec. 102. Actions by Department of State. 
Sec. 103. Multilateral development and health institutions. 
TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 
Sec. 201. Promoting efforts through interagency working groups and inter-
national forums. 
Sec. 202. Report on neglected tropical diseases in the United States. 
Sec. 203. Centers of excellence. 
Sec. 204. Panel on worm infection solutions. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to support a 
broad range of implementation and research and develop-
ment activities that work toward the achievement of cost- 
effective and sustainable treatment, control and, where 
possible, elimination of neglected tropical diseases, includ-
ing Ebola, for the economic and social well-being for all 
people. 
SEC. 4. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The World Health Organization (WHO) has 
identified 17 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). 
Approximately two billion people—almost one-third 
of the world’s population—are at risk of contracting 
an NTD, and more than 1.4 billion people are cur-
rently afflicted with one or more NTDs. 
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(2) In 2013, WHO adopted a comprehensive 
resolution on NTDs recognizing that increased na-
tional and international investments in prevention 
and control of neglected tropical diseases have suc-
ceeded in improving health and social well-being in 
many countries. 
(3) NTDs have an enormous impact in terms of 
disease burden and quality of life. NTDs cause the 
loss of up to 534,000 lives and 57 million disability- 
adjusted life years each year. NTDs surpass both 
malaria and tuberculosis in causing greater loss of 
life-years to disability and premature death. Many 
NTDs cause disfigurement and disability, leading to 
stigma, 
social 
discrimination, 
and 
societal 
marginalization. 
(4) NTDs create an economic burden of billions 
of dollars through the loss of productivity and high 
costs of health care required for treatment. People 
afflicted by NTDs are less productive than their 
healthy counterparts. NTDs jeopardize the ability of 
people to attend work and school, or to produce at 
full capacity. For example, controlling one NTD, 
hookworm, in children can result in a 43-percent in-
crease in future wage earnings. 
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(5) The social, economic, and health burden of 
NTDs falls primarily on low- and middle-income 
countries, where access to safe water, sanitation, 
and health care is limited. At least 100 countries 
face two endemic NTD burdens, and 30 countries 
carry six or more endemic NTDs. 
(6) NTDs are not confined to the developing 
world, however. Several NTD outbreaks have been 
reported in the United States and other developed 
countries, especially among the poor. In the United 
States, NTDs disproportionately affect people living 
in poverty, and especially minorities, including up to 
2.8 million African-Americans with toxocariasis and 
300,000 or more people, mostly Hispanic-Americans, 
with Chagas disease. 
(7) In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola Virus Dis-
eases (Ebola) caused a pandemic that infected more 
than 20,000 people, including more than 8,000 
deaths. Although not listed as an NTD by the World 
Health Organization, Ebola shares the same charac-
teristics as other NTDs by affecting people living 
‘‘under conditions of poverty’’ and is ‘‘concentrated 
almost exclusively in impoverished populations in the 
developing world’’. Even when the disease had 
spread to the United States and other developed 
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