[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6929-6930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3571]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Office of the Secretary; Solicitation of Nominations for Four 
Vacancies on the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on 
Minority Health

AGENCY: Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Minority Health, 
HHS.

ACTION: Solicitation of nominations for four vacancies on the HHS 
Advisory Committee on Minority Health.

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    Authority: Section 1707(c) of the Public Health Service Act 
directs the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on 
Minority Health. The Committee is also governed by the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), which sets forth 
standards for the formulation and use of advisory committees.

SUMMARY: The Secretary, DHHS, signed the charter establishing the HHS 
Advisory Committee on Minority Health (the Committee) on September 17, 
1999, and the charter was renewed on September 14, 2001. This Committee 
advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary on improving the 
health of racial and ethnic minority groups and development of goals 
and specific program activities. This notice requests nominations for 
four vacancies on the Committee beginning December 2002.

DATES: Nominations for members will be considered if we receive them at 
the appropriate address, as provided below, no later than 5:00 P.M. EST 
on May 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or deliver nominations for membership to the 
following address: Sheila Pack Merriweather, Division of Policy and 
Data, Office of Minority Health, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1000, 
Rockville, MD 20852. Nominations will not be accepted by e-mail or by 
facsimile.
    A request for a copy of the Secretary's charter for the Advisory 
Committee and list of current members can be obtained from the Office 
of Minority Health Resource Center, P.O. Box 37337, Washington, DC 
20013-7337, telephone 1-800-444-6472, TDD 301-589-0951, e-mail: 
[email protected]. The charter and list of current members can also be 
downloaded from the Office of Minority Health Resource Center Web site 
at http://www.omhrc.dhhs.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila Pack Merriweather at (301) 443-
9923; fax--301-443-8280; [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Advisory Committee advises the Secretary on improving the 
health of racial and ethnic minorities and developing goals and 
specific program activities. These activities include, but are not 
limited, to the following:
    (1) Establish short-range and long-range goals and objectives and 
coordinate all other activities within the Public Health Service that 
relate to disease prevention, health promotion, service delivery, and 
research concerning such individuals.
    (2) Enter into interagency agreements with other agencies of the 
Public Health Service.
    (3) Support research, demonstrations, and evaluations to test new 
and innovative models.
    (4) Increase knowledge and understanding of health risk factors.
    (5) Develop mechanisms that support better information 
dissemination, education, prevention, and service delivery to 
individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including individuals who 
are members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
    (6) Ensure that the National Center for Health Statistics collects 
data on the health status of each minority group.
    (7) With respect to individuals who lack proficiency in speaking 
the English language, enter into contracts with

[[Page 6930]]

public and nonprofit private providers of primary health services for 
the purpose of increasing the access of individuals to such services by 
developing and carrying out programs to provide bilingual or 
interpretive services.
    (8) Support a national minority health resource center to carry out 
the following:
    (A) Facilitate the exchange of information regarding matters 
relating to health information and health promotion, preventive health 
services, and education in the appropriate use of health care.
    (B) Facilitate access to information.
    (C) Assist in the analysis of issues and problems relating to such 
matters.
    (D) Provide technical assistance with respect to the exchange of 
such information (including facilitating the development of materials 
of such technical assistance).
    (9) Carry out programs to improve access to health care services 
for individuals with limited proficiency in speaking the English 
language. Activities under the preceding sentence shall include 
developing and evaluating model projects.

II. Nominations

    The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is requesting nominations to 
fill four vacancies for voting members to serve on the Advisory 
Committee. The Committee consists of 12 voting members appointed by the 
Secretary from among racial and ethnic minorities, defined as Black or 
African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian 
American, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, who have expertise 
regarding issues of minority health. The racial and ethnic minority 
groups will be equally represented among the voting members. Employees 
or officers of the Federal Government may not serve as voting members, 
except that the Secretary may also appoint employees of the DHHS to 
serve as ex-officio, non-voting members.
    OMH is seeking nominations of persons from a wide-array of fields 
including but not limited to: Public health and medicine; health 
administration and financing; behavioral and social sciences; 
immigration and rural health; health law and economics; cultural and 
linguistic competency; and biomedical ethics and human rights. 
Demonstrated expertise regarding issues of minority health, such as: 
Access to care; data collection and analysis; health professions 
development; cultural competency; and eliminating disparities in 
cancer, cardiovascular diseases, infant mortality, HIV infection/AIDS, 
child and adult immunization, diabetes, substance abuse, homicide, 
suicide, unintentional injuries, and other diseases and health 
conditions is also required.
    Nominations must state that the nominee is willing to serve as a 
member of the Advisory Committee and appears to have no conflict of 
interest that would preclude membership. Potential candidates are 
required to provide detailed information concerning such matters as 
financial holdings, consultancies, and research grants or contracts to 
permit evaluation of possible sources of conflict of interest.
    Members shall be appointed for a term of four years. Committee 
members will be compensated for the time they spend in Committee 
meetings (including travel time) as well as per diem costs.
    Any interested person may nominate one or more qualified persons. 
Self-nominations will also be accepted.

III. Nomination Forms

    Nomination forms may be obtained by contacting the Office of 
Minority Health Resource Center, PO Box 37337, Washington, DC 20013-
7337, telephone 1-800-444-6472, TDD 301-589-0951, e-mail: 
[email protected]. Nomination forms may also be downloaded from the Office 
of Minority Health Resource Center Web site, http://www.omhrc.dhhs.gov. 
All nominations and curricula vitae for the Advisory Committee should 
be sent to Sheila Pack Merriweather at the address in this notice.

    Dated: January 31, 2002.
Nathan Stinson, Jr.,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health.
[FR Doc. 02-3571 Filed 2-13-02; 8:45 am]
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