Department of Health and Human Services
	Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities FY 2003 Plan and Budget February 2002

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RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATIONS

(by HHS Strategic Plan Objective)

REDUCE THE INCIDENCE AND IMPACT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (OBJECTIVE 1.7)

FY 2003 Priorities

NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM (CDC)

Research: CDC will support research to reduce disease, disability, and death from vaccine- preventable illnesses. FY2003 Priorities include:

• improving existing vaccines and developing new and/or combined vaccines.
• developing methods for tracking immunization levels (such as community/state population-based immunization registries), parent reminder/recall, mandatory immunization laws, and assessing provider and community efficiency in delivering vaccines.
• research to determine the occurrence of infrequent adverse events following vaccination and to investigate the validity of claims that vaccines are causing specific conditions.

Demonstrations: Priorities include:

• determining the best means of most effectively communicating immunization schedule changes.
• developing strategies to improve the delivery of vaccines to high risk groups.

Evaluations: CDC will support evaluation activities to prevent disease, disability, or death from vaccine-preventable diseases in children and adults. FY2003 priorities include:

• the National Immunization Survey (NIS) which provides estimates of immunization coverage levels of two-year-old children in the U.S. and measures progress toward achieving immunization objectives.
• the nationwide Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS).

INFECTIOUS DISEASE - SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE (CDC)

Research: CDC will support research to:

• develop methods to estimate new HIV infections (incidence) and monitor HIV incidence and prevalence in the United States.
• develop methods to identify HIV-infected persons and link them to care and effective prevention services.
• develop and test effective and sustainable behavioral, social, and structural interventions to prevent HIV/AIDS.
• synthesize HIV prevention literature to systematically identify effective behavioral, social, and policy interventions; factors associated with their effectiveness; and needs for new intervention.
• identify the behavioral, social, structural, and biomedical determinants among various populations.
• reduce the incidence and impact of infectious diseases through epidemiological studies.

Demonstrations: Priorities for FY 2003 include: identify effective models for increasing knowledge of serostatus among HIV-positive persons who are unaware of their status; identify effective models for increasing HIV prevention interventions for HIV-positive persons; identify effective models for strengthening the HIV prevention-treatment interface; identify effective models for transferring effective, research-based interventions to HIV prevention providers for implementation in field settings; and identify continuity of care models for HIV inmates in corrections settings, addressing their treatment and care needs on the inside, and linking them to treatment and care upon release with case management followup (in collaboration with HRSA).

Evaluations: CDC will support evaluation activities to:

• Assess prevention programs funded by health departments that are intended to influence HIV-positive persons to reduce their risk of infecting others and to determine the elements of effective HIV prevention for HIV positives.
• Assess outcomes and cost-effectiveness of community based interventions for high risk populations to better understand what works and what does not work for strengthening prevention effectiveness for the future.
• Assess the referrals and linkages to medical and social service organizations utilized by Community Based Organizations (CBO) to determine their effectiveness for primary and secondary prevention.
• Assess innovative approaches to HIV counseling and testing using rapid tests to increase testing rates in racial and ethnic minorities in community settings such as STD clinics and street outreach.