Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1551
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2007-06-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Curricula
Department of Health and Human Services
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Federal aid to research
Government Operations and Politics
Health planning
Higher education
Lung diseases
Medical education
Medical research
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Osteopathy and osteopaths
Pharmaceutical research
Preventive medicine
Research centers
Research grants
Scholarships
Science, Technology, Communications
Student loan funds
Tuberculosis
Vaccines
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2007-06-05
text: 
Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to set forth research and demonstration projections for the prevention, treatment, control, and elimination of tuberculosis that shall receive priority from the Secretary of Health and Human Services in awarding research grants.

Requires the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis to make recommendations on the development, revision, and implementation of a comprehensive plan to eliminate tuberculosis in the United States. 

Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to develop new tools for the elimination of tuberculosis. Requires the Federal Tuberculosis Task Force to make recommendations on the development of a comprehensive plan for the creation of such tools.

Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate tuberculosis research and development. Allows the Director of NIH to provide awards for: (1) the development of curricula in schools of medicine or osteopathic medicine regarding the principles and practices of preventing, managing, and controlling tuberculosis; and (2) supervised study and research for clinically trained professionals who are committed to research regarding pulmonary infections and tuberculosis.

Requires the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to conduct research activities to develop a tuberculosis vaccine.

Requires the John E. Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences to carry out an international training program regarding tuberculosis.

Requires the Secretary to seek to ensure that a portion of amounts appropriated for loan repayment for qualified health professionals conducting research is reserved for contracts with individuals to conduct tuberculosis research.

action_date: 2007-12-18
text: 
Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2007 - 
Title I: Department of Health and Human Services in Coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Other Appropriate Agencies - Subtitle A: National Strategy for Combating and Eliminating Tuberculosis
 - (Sec. 101) Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the grant program through which the Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to carry out programs with respect to the prevention, treatment, control, and elimination of tuberculosis.

Includes research on latent tuberculosis infection within such program.

 Includes among demonstration projects the Secretary may carry out as part of such program projects for the development of regional capabilities to prevent, control, and eliminate tuberculosis and prevent multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant strains of tuberculosis, and projects for the intensification of efforts to: (1) reduce health disparities in the incidence of tuberculosis; (2) control tuberculosis along the United States-Mexico border; (3) prevent, detect, and treat tuberculosis among foreign-born persons who are in the United States; and (4) prevent, detect, and treat tuberculosis in high-risk populations and settings.

Allows the Secretary, as part of such program, to develop, enhance, and expand information technologies that support tuberculosis control, including surveillance and database management systems with cross-jurisdictional capabilities.

Requires the Secretary, in awarding grants for such tuberculosis programs, to give highest priority to applicants that will contribute nonfederal funds to carry out such activities.

Subtitle B: Interagency Collaboration
 - (Sec. 111) Expands the duties for the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis to include providing to the Secretary and other appropriate federal officials advice on: (1) coordinating the activities of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal agencies; (2) responding rapidly and effectively to emerging issues in tuberculosis; and (3) efficiently utilizing the federal resources involved. Requires the Council to make or update recommendations on the comprehensive plan to eliminate tuberculosis in the United States. 

Sets forth reporting requirements for the Council. 

Subtitle C: New Tools for Tuberculosis Elimination
 - (Sec. 121) Authorizes the Secretary to expand, intensify, and coordinate research and development and related activities to develop new tools for the elimination of tuberculosis and new methods to enhance detection and response to tuberculosis outbreaks. Requires the Secretary to give priority to programmatically relevant research so that new tools can be utilized in public health practice.

Requires the Federal Tuberculosis Task Force to: (1) provide to the Secretary and other appropriate federal officials advice on the implementation of such activities; and (2) make recommendations on the development of a comprehensive plan for the creation of new tools for the elimination of tuberculosis.

Subtitle D: Evaluation of Public Health Authorities
 - (Sec. 131) Requires the Secretary to: (1) report to the appropriate congressional committees on changes needed to federal and state public health authorities to address current disease containment challenges; and (2) promulgate regulations to update current interstate and foreign quarantine regulations.

Subtitle E: Authorization of Appropriations
 - (Sec. 141) Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012. Requires the Secretary to allocate a portion of grant funds on the basis of a formula that takes into account the level of tuberculosis morbidity and case complexity in the respective geographic area.

Title II: National Institutes of Health
 - (Sec. 201) Allows the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate research and development and related NIH activities with respect to tuberculosis. Authorizes such activities to include: (1) enhancing basic and clinical research on tuberculosis, including drug resistant tuberculosis; and (2) expanding research on the relationship between tuberculosis and the human immunodeficiency virus.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-04-22
text: By Senator Kennedy from Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions filed written report. Report No. 110-329.
action_date: 2008-04-22
text: By Senator Kennedy from Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions filed written report. Report No. 110-329.
action_date: 2007-12-18
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 549.
action_date: 2007-12-18
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Kennedy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2007-12-18
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Kennedy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2007-11-14
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2007-06-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-06-05
text: Introduced in Senate