AVAC Draft PAHPA Reauthorization Hudson/ ESHOO RFI Responses

AVAC DRAFT PAHPA REAUTHORIZATION HUDSON/ESHOO RFI RESPONSES (Google Form)

Deadline: Monday, March 13

Please provide suggestions for the programs listed below. If you do not have a suggestion for a specific program, please leave the form blank.

  • National health Security Strategy (NHSS)
    • Reauthorize through 2028

 

  • Public Health Situational Awareness and Biosurveillance Network Programs 
    • Reauthorize programs and include authority to effectively collect and coordinate secure, interoperable, and bidirectional public health data across federal, state, and local government and relevant health care providers and entities as necessary to respond to an outbreak or public health emergency. HHS authority to require the reporting of minimum necessary data (in accordance with trusted exchange framework and common agreement standards for data quality and security) to serve essential public health activities and to help maximize and to direct limited supplies and resources to where they are most needed during an outbreak or public health emergency.

 

  • Public Health Emergency Fund (PHEF)
    • Reauthorize programs and allow HHS to develop an agencywide “one-stop shop” for state, local and tribal health agencies to submit emergency reassignment requests and streamline the process for renewing a federal employee’s temporary reassignment. In addition, state and local health leaders are most acutely aware of the staffing needs of that jurisdiction and should have the direct authority to submit a request on behalf of the jurisdiction during a public health emergency.
    • HHS agencies (ASPR and CDC) should have the authority to hire directly for positions that support preparedness, response, and recovery activities, similar to other federal departments. Additionally, provide HHS authority to offer a flexible pay scale, waive overtime caps, as well as provide hazard pay for employees directly involved in response and recovery efforts during a public health emergency.

 

  • Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
    • Include Administration recommendations.

 

  • National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Seniors and Disasters
    • Ensure membership includes geriatricians and other providers who specialize in care for older adults.
    • Identify and adopt language to increase specificity and minimize the risk of activating negative stereotypes about older people. The National Center to Reframe Aging recommends the use of terms such as “older persons,” “older people,” “older adults,” “older patients,” “older individuals,” “persons 65 years and older,” and “the older population” are preferred over “seniors” and “the elderly”.

 

  • National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Individuals with Disabilities and Disasters
    • Provide recommendations for a sustainable system for distribution of vaccines, tests, therapeutics or other countermeasures to home bound individuals and persons with disabilities living in congregate settings, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

 

  • Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) – building education, counseling, outreach and emergency vaccine access
    • Direct the ASPR/SNS to leverage existing state and local public health ordering and distribution systems to facilitate rapid deployment of vaccines in the stockpile during an outbreak or public health emergency. Also secure and maintain an adequate vaccine supply for known and emerging viral threats. Further, these vaccines should be checked regularly to ensure they are the most up-to-date version and are stored to preserve the integrity of the vaccine.

 

  • Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB)
    • Include use of preventive vaccines in information on antimicrobial stewardship approaches (Section 319E(h)), antimicrobial resistance and stewardship activities (Section 319E(j)), and in annual report on Antimicrobial Resistance (Section 319E(g)).

 

  • Epidemiology-laboratory capacity grants
    • Reauthorize through 2028

 

Please provide suggestions below. If you do not have a suggestion for the specific request, please leave the form blank.

If you have a policy suggestion that does not fit within one of the currently authorized programs or initiatives, please provide information about that request.

  • Section 319A. VACCINE TRACKING AND DISTRIBUTION: Reauthorize program and broaden authority to include other emerging infectious conditions for which a vaccine is commercially available or available under an emergency use authorization (EUA).
  • Uninsured Adult Immunization Program: Establish a mandatory program to ensure that the 1 in 10 uninsured adults in the United States has access to recommended preventative vaccines. An uninsured adult immunization program would enable communities to leverage provider networks and infrastructure funded and developed during the pandemic to address longstanding immunization coverage gaps that put communities at risk of vaccine preventable conditions, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
  • Finally, please submit your top three priorities for the 2023 PAHPA reauthorization in order of preference.
    • Uninsured adult immunization program
    • Public health data;
    • SNS vaccine ordering and distribution efficiencies