national, commission on digestive diseases

national, commission on digestive diseases Sec. 301. (a) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) after consulting with the Director of the National Institutes of Health, shall, within sixty days of the date of enactment of this section, establish a National Commission on Digestive Diseases (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Commission”). (b) The Commission shall be composed of twenty-six members as follows: 90 STAT. 2651 (1) Ten members, appointed by the Secretary from scientists, physicians, and other health professionals, not in the employment of the Federal Government, as follows: Two shall be practicing clinical gastroenterologists, two shall be gastroenterologists involved primarily in research on digestive diseases, one shall be a surgeon, one shall be an expert in liver disease, one shall be an epidemiologist, one shall be an allied health professional, and two shall he basic biomedical scientists (such as biochemists, physiologists, microbiologists, nutritionists, pharmacologists, or immunologists). (2) Six members, appointed by the Secretary from the general public, of whom at least three shall have personal or close family experience with digestive diseases, (3) One member, appointed by the Secretary from the members of the National Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases Advisory Council whose primary interest is in the field of digestive diseases, (4) The Director of the National Institutes of Health or his designee; the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases or his designee; the Directors, or their designees, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; the Associate Director for Digestive Diseases and Nutrition of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases; the Director of the Center for Disease Control or his designee; the Chief Medical Director of the Veterans’ Administration or his designee; and the Secretary of Defense or his designee shall each be ex officio members of the Commission. (c) The members of the Commission shall select a Chairperson from among the appointed members of the Commission. (d) The Commission shall first meet as directed by the Secretary, not later than sixty days after the Commission is established, and thereafter shall meet at the call of the Chairperson of the Commission, but not less often than three times during the life of the Commission. The Commission may hold such hearings, take such testimony, and sit and act at such time and places as the Commission deems advisable. (e) (1) The Commission may appoint and fix the pay of an executive secretary to effectively carry out its functions. The executive secretary shall be appointed subject to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and sub-chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates. (2) The Secretary shall provide the Commission with such additional professional and clerical staff, such information, and the services of such consultants as the Secretary determines to be necessary for the Commission to carry out effectively its functions. (f) Members of the Commission who are officers or employees of the Federal Government shall serve as members of the Commission without compensation in addition to that received in their regular public employment. Members of the Commission who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government shall receive compensation at a rate not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate in effect for Grade GS–18 of the General Schedule for each day (including traveltime) they are engaged in the performance of their duties 90 STAT. 2652as members of the Commission, All members, while serving away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission, shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as such expenses are authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for persons in Government service employed intermittently. (g) (1) The Commission shall— (A) conduct a comprehensive study of the present state of knowledge of the incidence, duration, and morbidity of, and mortality rates resulting from, digestive diseases and of the social and economic impact of such diseases; (B) evaluate the public and private facilities and resources (including trained personnel and research activities) for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of, and research in, such diseases; and (C) identify programs (including biological, behavioral, nutritional, environmental, and social programs) in which, and the means by which, improvement in the management of digestive diseases can be accomplished. Each Federal entity administering health programs and activities related to digestive diseases shall, upon request, assist the Commission in carrying out its duties under this paragraph. (2) Based on the study, evaluation, ami identification made pursuant to paragraph (1), the Commission shall develop and recommend a long-range plan for the use and organization of national resources to effectively deal with digestive diseases. The plan shall provide for— (A) research studies into the basic biological processes and mechanisms related to digestive diseases; (B) investigations into the epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of digestive diseases; (C) development of preventive measures (including education programs, programs for the elimination of environmental hazards related to digestive diseases, and clinical programs) to be taken against digestive diseases; (D) detection of digestive diseases in the presymptomatic stages and development and evaluation of new and improved methods of screening for digestive diseases; (E) development of criteria for the diagnosis and the clinical management and control of digestive diseases; (F) development of coordinated health care systems for dealing with digestive diseases; (G) education and training (including continuing education programs) of scientists, clinicians, educators, and allied health professionals in the fields and specialties requisite to the conduct of programs related to digestive diseases with special emphasis on training for careers in research, teaching, and all aspects of patient care; (H) the conduct and direction of field studies and clinical trials for testing, evaluating, and demonstrating preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, and control measures in digestive diseases; (I) establishment of a standardized nomenclature of all digestive diseases for use in basic and clinical research and to facilitate collaborative studies ; and . (J) establishment of a system of periodic surveillance of the research potential and research needs in digestive diseases corre-90 STAT. 2653 spending with the recently completed survey organized by the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases. The long-range plan formulated under this paragraph shall also include within its scope related nutritional disorders and basic biological processes and mechanisms in nutrition which are related to digestive diseases. (h) The Commission shall recommend for each of the Institutes of the National Institutes of Health whose activities are to be affected by the long-range plan estimates of the expenditures needed to carry out each Institute’s part of the overall program. Such estimates shall be prepared for the fiscal year beginning immediately after completion of the Commission’s plan and for each of the next two fiscal years. (i) (1) Within eighteen months following its initial meeting (as prescribed by subsection (d)), the Commission shall publish and transmit directly to the Congress a final report respecting its activities under this section. The report shall contain (A) the long-range plan required by subsection (g), (B) the expenditure estimates required by subsection (h), and (C) any recommendations of the Commission for legislation. (2) The Commission shall cease to exist on the thirtieth day following the date of submission of the final report to Congress. (j) There are authorized to be appropriated without fiscal year limitation $1,500,000 to carry out the purposes of this section.