Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act

Bill: 109-s-521
Sponsor: Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey [R-TX]
Introduced: 2005-03-03 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: AIDS (Disease)
Access to health care
Armed Forces and National Security
Chronically ill
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Communicable diseases
Communication in medicine
Confidential communications
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Curricula
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug abuse
Drug abuse treatment
Education
Emergency Management
Emergency medicine
Epidemiology
Executive reorganization
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to research
Federal-state relations
Fire fighters
Government Operations and Politics
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Health counseling
Health education
Health information systems
Health planning
Hepatitis
Higher education
Human immunodeficiency viruses
Indian medical care
Intravenous drug abuse
Liver diseases
Medical education
Medical personnel
Medical records
Medical research
Medical screening
Medical statistics
Medical tests
Minorities
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Nonprofit organizations
Paramedical personnel
Performance measurement
Police
Preventive medicine
Public health
Quality of life
Research grants
Right of privacy
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Vaccination
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2005-03-03
text: 
Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and implement a plan for the prevention, control, and management of hepatitis C virus (HCV).
 
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to: (1) implement programs to increase awareness of HCV; and (2) support activities to promote the early detection of HCV infection, identify risk factors for infection, and conduct surveillance of HCV infection trends.
 
Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of CDC and the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to: (1) conduct epidemiologic research to identify best practices for HCV prevention; (2) establish a Hepatitis C Clinic Research Network to conduct research related to the treatment and medical management of HCV; and (3) conduct basic research to identify new approaches to prevent and treat HCV.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) promote State, local, and tribal programs to provide referrals for medical evaluation and management to HCV-positive individuals; (2) examine whether the HCV programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should be part of the Federal plan; and (3) develop benchmarks for evaluating the programs and activities conducted under this Act.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to States, political subdivisions of States, Indian tribes, or nonprofit entities to carry out activities under this Act. 
 
Requires the Director of NIH to establish a Liver Disease Research Advisory Board. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-03-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2027-2029)
action_date: 2005-03-03
text: Introduced in Senate