[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1591 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1591

 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, to establish the Health 
   Technology Program in the United States Agency for International 
  Development to research and develop technologies to improve global 
                    health, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2009

Mrs. Murray (for herself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, to establish the Health 
   Technology Program in the United States Agency for International 
  Development to research and develop technologies to improve global 
                    health, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``21st Century Global Health 
Technology Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States has committed to the United Nations 
        Millennium Development Goals of--
                    (A) reducing child mortality;
                    (B) improving maternal health; and
                    (C) combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other 
                diseases.
            (2) The goals described in paragraph (1) cannot be reached 
        without health technologies and devices to diagnose infectious 
        diseases and reduce disease transmission.
            (3) The development, advancement, and introduction of 
        affordable and appropriate technologies are essential to 
        efforts by the United States to reduce deaths among the world's 
        most vulnerable populations, particularly children and women in 
        the developing world.
            (4) A recent report by the Institute of Medicine on the 
        commitment of the United States to global health--
                    (A) recommends that United States institutions 
                share existing knowledge to address prevalent health 
                problems in low- and middle-income countries;
                    (B) recommends continued support for partnerships 
                between the public and private sectors to develop and 
                deliver health products in low- and middle-income 
                countries; and
                    (C) urges the United States Government to continue 
                its support for innovative research models to address 
                unmet health needs in poor countries.
            (5) Investments by the United States in affordable, 
        appropriate health technologies, such as medical devices for 
        maternal and child care, vaccine delivery tools, safe injection 
        devices, diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, and 
        innovative disease prevention strategies--
                    (A) reduce the risk of disease transmission; and
                    (B) accelerate access to life-saving global health 
                interventions for the world's poor.
            (6) Through a cooperative agreement, known as the 
        Technologies for Health program (referred to in this section as 
        ``HealthTech''), USAID supports the development of technologies 
        that--
                    (A) maximize the limited resources available for 
                global health; and
                    (B) ensure that products and medicines developed 
                for use in low-resource settings reach the people that 
                need such products and medicines.
            (7) The HealthTech cooperative agreement--
                    (A) facilitates public-private collaboration in the 
                development of global health technologies;
                    (B) leverages public sector support for early stage 
                research and development of health technologies to 
                encourage private sector investment in late-stage 
                technology development and product introduction in 
                developing countries;
                    (C) benefits the United States economy by investing 
                in the growing United States global health technology 
                sector, which--
                            (i) provides skilled jobs for American 
                        workers; and
                            (ii) enhances United States competitiveness 
                        in the increasingly technological and 
                        knowledge-based global economy; and
                    (D) enhances United States national security by--
                            (i) reducing the risk of pandemic disease; 
                        and
                            (ii) contributing to economic development 
                        and stability in developing countries.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to authorize a health technology 
development program that supports coordinated, long-term research and 
development of appropriate global health technologies--
            (1) to improve global health;
            (2) to reduce maternal and child mortality rates; and
            (3) to reverse the incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and 
        other diseases.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.

    Section 107 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151e) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Health Technology Program.--(1) There is established in the 
United States Agency for International Development (referred to in this 
section as `USAID') the Health Technology Program, which shall--
            ``(A) coordinate and lead research and development efforts;
            ``(B) be funded by USAID on a competitive basis; and
            ``(C) serve as a national laboratory and technology 
        development program for global health.
    ``(2) The Health Technology Program shall develop, advance, and 
introduce affordable, available, and appropriate technologies 
specifically designed--
            ``(A) to improve the health and nutrition of developing 
        country populations;
            ``(B) to reduce maternal and child mortality; and
            ``(C) to improve the diagnosis, prevention and reduction of 
        disease, especially HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other 
        major diseases.
    ``(3) The Health Technology Program shall be located at an 
institution with a successful record of--
            ``(A) advancing the technologies described in paragraph 
        (2); and
            ``(B) integrating practical field experience into the 
        research and development process in order to introduce the most 
        appropriate technologies.
    ``(4) The Administrator of USAID, in collaboration with the Health 
Technology Program, shall submit an annual report to Congress and all 
relevant Federal agencies that describes--
            ``(A) the relevant activities of the Health Technology 
        Program that are in the incubation phase;
            ``(B) the progress made on such activities and on other 
        projects carried out through the Health Technology Program; and
            ``(C) the outlook for future health technology efforts 
        evaluated by the Health Technology Program to have significant 
        growth potential.
    ``(5) There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each 
of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to carry out the Health 
Technology Program under this subsection.''.
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