[Federal Register: February 14, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 31)]
[Notices]
[Page 6929-6930]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14fe02-76]
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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:
info@omhrc.gov. 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; e-mail--smerriweather@osophs.dhhs.gov
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
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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:
info@omhrc.gov. Nomination forms may also be downloaded from the Office
of Minority Health Resource Center Web site, http://www.omhrc.gov/acmh
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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