Tick-Borne Disease Working Group 4th Meeting, May 10 – Online and Open for Comment

From HHS.gov and Office of the Federal Register. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the fourth “on-line” meeting of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (Working Group) on May 10, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., Eastern Time. This is an on-line meeting that is open to the public. Members of the public may attend the meeting via webcast; instructions on how to attend will be posted one week prior to the meeting at https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/tickbornedisease/index.html The meeting will be recorded. You must be registered to access the meeting. Register Here

From HHS.gov and Office of the Federal Register

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the fourth “on-line” meeting of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (Working Group) on May 10, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., Eastern Time.

The meeting will focus on the reports describing the work of the six subcommittees of the Working Group.  These subcommittees were established to assist the Working Group with the development of the report to Congress and the HHS Secretary as required by the 21st Century Cures Act. The subcommittees are:

1. Disease Vectors, Surveillance and Prevention (includes epidemiology of tick-borne diseases);

2. Pathogenesis, Transmission, and Treatment;

3. Testing and Diagnostics (including laboratory-based diagnoses and clinical-diagnoses);

4. Access to Care Services and Support to Patients;

5. Vaccine and Therapeutics; and

6. Other Tick-Borne Diseases and Co-infections.

This is an on-line meeting that is open to the public. Members of the public may attend the meeting via webcast; instructions on how to attend will be posted one week prior to the meeting at https://www.hhs.gov/​ash/​advisory-committees/​tickbornedisease/​index.html. The meeting will be recorded. You must be registered to access the meeting. Register Here

Click here (and scroll down) to see Agenda for May 10th Working Group Meeting

Public Comment – Information and Instructions

The Working Group invites public comment on issues related to its charge. Comments are particularly welcome on issues related to the work of the six subcommittees that merit consideration in the Working Group’s Report to Congress and the HHS Secretary.

You have the option of verbal comment, written comment or both. Thus, if you provide verbal comment, you may also submit it as written comment or submit written comment on a different issue.

Verbal (by phone) comments:

To be considered for providing verbal comment, you must register for the meeting.
Requests to provide verbal comment must be submitted via email by May 3, 2018 Eastern Time to [email protected]. In the Subject line please enter: Verbal Public Comment – May 10 Meeting.
A total of 60 minutes has been set aside for verbal comments. Each person will be limited to 3 minutes in order to accommodate as many speakers as possible.
If more requests are received than can be accommodated, speakers will be randomly selected. The nature of the comments will not be considered in making this selection.
We encourage you to practice your talk to ensure it fits within the allotted time.
Your remarks will be broadcast over a live webcast and will become part of the archived recording and meeting transcripts that will be posted on this website.

IMPORTANT: When you submit your request to provide verbal comment, please include a statement letting us know how you would like your comments to be identified. This information will be used during the meeting to link you with your comments. You may choose to use your name, or to be anonymous, and identify your city and/or state. If you are providing comments on behalf of an organization we will identify you and the organization, if you provide a statement requesting we include this information. Please be clear in your request to provide which of these options you would like us to use.

Written comments:

Written comments must be submitted via email by May 3, 2018 Eastern Time to [email protected] . In the Subject line please enter: Written Public Comment – May 10 Meeting.
Comments should be no more than 4 pages in Calibri or Times New Roman, 11 point font. Text that exceeds the 4 pages will be deleted.
Written comments should either be provided in the body of the email, or in an attachment in Word format.
So that your comments meet federal government website standards for the visually and hearing impaired, please do not include
graphics, images, or text boxes. If included with your written comment, we will not be able to retain them. Simple tables are acceptable.
hyperlinks. If included, they will be unlinked. Instead, we suggest you insert the full URL (e.g., https://www.jscimedcentral.com/ClinicalCytology/clinicalcytology-3-1085.pdf)
Any highlighting or underlining of text will need to be removed. Any text that is in a color other than black will be converted to black.

IMPORTANT: When you submit your written comments, please include a statement letting us know how you would like your comments to be identified. This information will be used to link you with your comments. You may choose to use your name, or to be anonymous, and identify your city and/or state. If you are providing comments on behalf of an organization we will identify you and the organization, if you provide a statement requesting we include this information. Please be clear in your submission to provide which of these options you would like us to use.
Note: Unlike verbal public comment, which is presented by the requesting individual during a Working Group meeting, written public comment is not read during a meeting. Written comment will be provided to the Working Group before the meeting.

Click here for Federal Register Website

Click here for May 15-16 in-person Working Group Meeting – details to be announced

Background and Authority: The Tick-Borne Disease Working Group was established on August 10, 2017, in accordance with section 2062 of the 21st Century Cures Act, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App., as amended, to provide expertise and review all HHS efforts related to tick-borne diseases to help ensure interagency coordination and minimize overlap, examine research priorities, and identify and address unmet needs. In addition, the Working Group will report to the Secretary and Congress on their findings and any recommendations for the federal response to tick-borne disease prevention, treatment, and research, and addressing gaps in those areas.