[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 49756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19780]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Renewal of Charter for the National Vaccine Advisory Committee

AGENCY: National Vaccine Program Office, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and 
Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services is hereby giving 
notice that the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) has been 
rechartered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LCDR Guillermo Aviles-Mendoza, Public 
Health Advisor, National Vaccine Program Office, Department of Health 
and Human Services, Room 739G.4, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20201. Phone: (202) 205-2982; 
fax: (202) 690-4631; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NVAC is a non-discretionary Federal advisory 
committee. The establishment of NVAC was mandated under Section 2105 
(42 U.S.C. Section 300aa-5) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as 
amended. The Committee is governed by provisions of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. 
App.). NVAC advises and makes recommendations to the Director, National 
Vaccine Program (NVP), on matters related to the Program's 
responsibilities. The Assistant Secretary for Health is appointed to 
serve as the Director, NVP.
    To carry out its mission, NVAC (1) Studies and recommends ways to 
encourage the availability of an adequate supply of safe and effective 
vaccination products in the United States; (2) recommends research 
priorities and other measures the Director of the NVP should take to 
enhance the safety and efficacy of vaccines; (3) advises the Director 
of the NVP in the implementation of Sections 2102 and 2103 of the PHS 
Act; and (4) identifies annually for the Director of the NVP the most 
important areas of governmental and non-governmental cooperation that 
should be considered in implementing Sections 2101 and 2103 of the PHS 
Act.
    On July 23, 2013, the Assistant Secretary for Health approved for 
the NVAC charter to be renewed. There was one amendment recommended and 
approved for the charter. The Committee structure has been modified to 
increase the number of non-voting liaison representatives. An 
invitation has been extended to the Pan American Health Organization 
(PAHO) to serve as a non-voting liaison representative member of the 
Committee. PAHO is an international public health agency with over 110 
years of experience working to improve health and living standards of 
people of the Americas. The organization is part of the United Nations 
system; it serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World 
Health Organization and as the health organization of the Inter-
American System. PAHO works to strengthen national and local health 
systems and to improve the health of peoples of the Americas. It 
promotes primary health care strategies, including coordination of 
immunization campaigns through the Americas. Expanding the NVAC 
structure to include PAHO will assist the Committee to accomplish its 
mission of identifying the most important areas of governmental and 
non-governmental cooperation that should be considered to achieve 
optimal prevention of human infectious diseases through immunization 
and to achieve optimal prevention against adverse reactions to vaccine. 
The new charter was effected and filed with the appropriate 
Congressional committees and Library of Congress on July 30, 2013. 
Renewal of the NVAC charter gives authorization for the Committee to 
continue to operate until July 30, 2015.
    A copy of the NVAC charter is available on the Web site for the 
National Vaccine Program Office at http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/nvac. A copy 
of the charter also can be obtained by accessing the FACA database that 
is maintained by the Committee Management Secretariat under the General 
Services Administration. The Web site address for the FACA database is 
http://fido.gov/facadatabase.

    Dated: August 8, 2013.
Bruce Gellin,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Vaccines and Immunization), 
Director, National Vaccine Program Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-19780 Filed 8-14-13; 8:45 am]
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