§ 247b–15 — Surveillance And Education Regarding Infections Associated With Illicit Drug Use And Other Risk Factors

(a) The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may (directly or through grants to public and nonprofit private entities) provide for programs for the following: (1) To cooperate with States and Indian tribes in implementing or maintaining a national system to determine the incidence of infections commonly associated with illicit drug use, such as viral hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus, and infective endocarditis, and to assist the States in determining the prevalence of such infections, which may include the reporting of cases of such infections. (2) To identify, counsel, and offer testing to individuals who are at risk of infections described in paragraph (1) resulting from illicit drug use, receiving blood transfusions prior to July 1992, or other risk factors. (3) To provide appropriate referrals for counseling, testing, and medical treatment of individuals identified under paragraph (2) and to ensure, to the extent practicable, the provision of appropriate follow-up services. (4) To develop and disseminate public information and education programs for the detection and control of infections described in paragraph (1), with priority given to high-risk populations as determined by the Secretary. (5) To improve the education, training, and skills of health professionals in the detection and control of infections described in paragraph (1), including to improve coordination of treatment of substance use disorders and infectious diseases, with priority given to substance use disorder treatment providers, pediatricians and other primary care providers, obstetrician-gynecologists, and infectious disease clinicians, including HIV clinicians. (b) The Secretary may (directly or through grants to public and nonprofit private entities) carry out programs to provide for improvements in the quality of clinical-laboratory procedures regarding infections described in subsection (a)(1). (c) In this section, the term “Indian tribe” has the meaning given that term in section 5304 of title 25. (d) For the purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 2030.