§ 247b–6.
(b)
Research and development; demonstration projects; education and training
With respect to the prevention, treatment, control, and elimination of tuberculosis, the Secretary may, directly or through grants to public or nonprofit private entities, carry out the following:
(1)
Research, with priority given to research and development concerning latent tuberculosis infection, strains of tuberculosis resistant to drugs, and research concerning cases of tuberculosis that affect certain populations at risk for tuberculosis.
(2)
Research and development and related activities to develop new tools for the elimination of tuberculosis, including drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and public health interventions, such as directly observed therapy and non-pharmaceutical intervention, and methods to enhance detection and response to outbreaks of tuberculosis, including multidrug resistant tuberculosis. The Secretary is encouraged to give priority to programmatically relevant research so that new tools can be utilized in public health practice.
(3)
Demonstration projects for—
(A)
the development of regional capabilities to prevent, control, and eliminate tuberculosis and prevent multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant strains of tuberculosis;
(B)
the intensification of efforts to reduce health disparities in the incidence of tuberculosis;
(C)
the intensification of efforts to control tuberculosis along the United States-Mexico border and among United States-Mexico binational populations, including through expansion of the scope and number of programs that—
(i)
detect and treat binational cases of tuberculosis; and
(ii)
treat high-risk cases of tuberculosis referred from Mexican health departments;
(D)
the intensification of efforts to prevent, detect, and treat tuberculosis among foreign-born persons who are in the United States;
(E)
the intensification of efforts to prevent, detect, and treat tuberculosis among populations and settings documented as having a high risk for tuberculosis; and
(F)
tuberculosis detection, control, and prevention.
(4)
Public information and education activities.
(5)
Education, training, clinical skills improvement activities, and workplace exposure prevention for health professionals, including allied health personnel and emergency response employees.
(6)
Support of Centers to carry out activities under paragraphs (1) through (4).
(7)
Collaboration with international organizations and foreign countries in carrying out such activities.
(8)
Develop, enhance, and expand information technologies that support tuberculosis control including surveillance and database management systems with cross-jurisdictional capabilities, which shall conform to the standards and implementation specifications for such information technologies as recommended by the Secretary.
(f)
Advisory Council
(2)
Duties
The Council shall provide advice and recommendations regarding the elimination of tuberculosis to the Secretary. In addition, the Council shall, with respect to eliminating such disease, provide to the Secretary and other appropriate Federal officials advice on—
(A)
coordinating the activities of the Department of Health and Human Services and other Federal agencies that relate to the disease, including activities under subsection (b);
(B)
responding rapidly and effectively to emerging issues in tuberculosis; and
(C)
efficiently utilizing the Federal resources involved.
(3)
Comprehensive plan
(B)
Consultation
In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Council may consult with appropriate public and private entities, which may, subject to the direction or discretion of the Secretary, include—
(i)
individuals who are scientists, physicians, laboratorians, and other health professionals, who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government and who represent the disciplines relevant to tuberculosis elimination;
(ii)
members of public-private partnerships or private entities established to address the elimination of tuberculosis;
(iii)
members of national and international nongovernmental organizations whose purpose is to eliminate tuberculosis;
(iv)
members from the general public who are knowledgeable with respect to tuberculosis elimination including individuals who have or have had tuberculosis; and
(v)
scientists, physicians, laboratorians, and other health professionals who reside in a foreign country with a substantial incidence or prevalence of tuberculosis, and who represent the specialties and disciplines relevant to the research under consideration.
(C)
Certain components of plan
In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Council shall, subject to the direction or discretion of the Secretary—
(i)
consider recommendations for the involvement of the United States in continuing global and cross-border tuberculosis control activities in countries where a high incidence of tuberculosis directly affects the United States; and
(ii)
review the extent to which progress has been made toward eliminating tuberculosis.
(4)
Biennial report
(A)
In general
The Council shall submit a biennial report to the Secretary, as determined necessary by the Secretary, on the activities carried under this section. Each such report shall include the opinion of the Council on the extent to which its recommendations regarding the elimination of tuberculosis have been implemented, including with respect to—
(i)
activities under subsection (b); and
(ii)
the national plan referred to in paragraph (3).
(5)
Composition
The Council shall be composed of—
(A)
ex officio representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the United States Agency for International Development, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, and other Federal departments and agencies that carry out significant activities related to tuberculosis;
(B)
State and local tuberculosis control and public health officials;
(C)
individuals who are scientists, physicians, laboratorians, and other health professionals who represent disciplines relevant to tuberculosis elimination; and
(D)
members of national and international nongovernmental organizations established to address the elimination of tuberculosis.
(6)
Staff, information, and other assistance
([July 1, 1944, ch. 373], title III, § 317E, as added [Pub. L. 103–183, title III, § 301(a)], Dec. 14, 1993, [107 Stat. 2233]; amended [Pub. L. 105–392, title IV], §§ 401(b)(1), 405, Nov. 13, 1998, [112 Stat. 3587], 3588; [Pub. L. 107–251, title VI, § 601(a)], Oct. 26, 2002, [116 Stat. 1664]; [Pub. L. 108–163, § 2(m)(1)], Dec. 6, 2003, [117 Stat. 2023]; [Pub. L. 110–392, title I], §§ 101, 111(a), (c), 131, Oct. 13, 2008, [122 Stat. 4196], 4197, 4199, 4200.)