Brooks releases bipartisan reauthorization bill to protect U.S. from public health threats

U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) has introduced the bipartisan Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPA) of 2018 to reauthorize the nation’s main law ensuring Americans are prepared to respond to public health emergencies resulting from chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attacks, natural disasters or emerging infectious diseases.

Rep. Brooks introduced H.R. 6378 on July 16 and was joined by original cosponsors U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who also serves on the committee.

The full committee plans to mark up H.R. 6378 on Wednesday in fast-track action designed to keep the bill moving forward as current authorization of PAHPA expires Sept. 30. The measure also has been referred to three other House committees — Judiciary, Veterans’ Affairs, and Homeland Security — for consideration.

“Strengthening our country’s national preparedness and response efforts for public health emergencies is critically important as the threats we are facing are constantly changing,” Rep. Brooks said. “We face threats from devastating hurricanes and viruses such as Ebola or Nipah, as well as ongoing threats of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks from terrorist organizations or foreign countries who wish to do us harm.”

H.R. 6378, the congresswoman said, “will ensure our health care professionals are trained to respond to possible pandemic outbreaks, prioritize the further development of our national stockpile of vaccines, medical equipment and diagnostics, and establish new advisory groups focused on protecting vulnerable populations, such as senior citizens and people with disabilities, during public health threats and emergencies.”

Specifically, H.R. 6378 would reauthorize certain programs under the Public Health Service Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regarding public health security and all-hazards preparedness and response, among other purposes, according to the congressional record summary.

A six-page, section-by-section summary of H.R. 6378 provided by Rep. Brooks’ office, outlines the reauthorization proposal’s four titles, which include numerous provisions to update the law, including:
Title I would strengthen national preparedness and response for public health emergencies in several respects, including by coordination via amended duties and functions for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). Most notably, ASPR would be directed to become the chair of the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE), which coordinates the federal government’s medical countermeasures (MCMs) preparedness efforts to CBRN threats and emerging infectious diseases. PHEMCE includes three primary offices: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health, among other interagency partners.

Title II would optimize state and local all-hazards preparedness and response by, among several provisions, improving the existing Public Health Emergency Fund, bolstering the Hospital Preparedness Program, and “revitalizing” the CDC with $161.8 million a year in funding through 2023.

Title III would accelerate MCM advanced research and development by codifying the ASPR’s role in coordinating operations of the Strategic National Stockpile with the CDC and authorizing funding for the SNS at $610 million per year through fiscal year 2023, among other provisions.

“The September 11th attacks on our country and the deadly anthrax attacks that followed in 2001 motivated me and former Rep. Richard Burr to create PAHPA to coordinate responses to public health emergencies and develop necessary medical countermeasures,” said Rep. Eshoo. Richard Burr is now a U.S. senator and Republican from North Carolina.

“PAHPA updates the original legislation to meet the challenges of today, such as the demands placed on our health care response systems by the increasing number and severity of natural disasters, the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and the continued need to develop medical countermeasure products for which there is not a commercial market,” Eshoo said.

Title IV includes miscellaneous provisions, including amending a provision in current law to require that the next version of the National Health Security Strategy address cybersecurity threats, and to designate the ASPR as the lead role in HHS for ensuring the nation’s health care sector is capable of providing continuous care during a cybersecurity incident. Other items under this title would call for additional strategies to combat antibiotic resistance and enhances the role and funding for certain trauma centers.

In addition, H.R. 6378 would establish a Pandemic Influenza Program as well as an Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) to deal with known and unknown threats.