Senators Release Draft to PREVENT the Next Pandemic

Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., recently released a discussion draft of the PREVENT Pandemics Act.
Tucked into the bill are public health policy initiatives aiming to change the process of monitoring for outbreaks, including the creation of a new task force focusing on preparedness, increasing oversight of the national stockpile by the Department of Health and Human Services, strengthening U.S. sequencing capabilities, improving how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports health data and requiring the Food and Drug Administration to create a report for better ways for companies to develop medical products.
The bill would hold a magnifying glass to the CDC by ensuring the agency gets a Senate-confirmed director and requests a strategic report be provided by the agency every three years.
Feedback on the discussion draft will be collected through Feb. 4.
More could also be added to the bill — like tacking on $6.5 billion to create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to serve as a catalyst for speeding up research as proposed in President Biden’s FY 2022 budget.
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