On December 9, the House approved, by unanimous consent,the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early Act (PREEMIE) Act (S. 707). The bill was approved by the Senate on August 1 (see The Source, 8/4/06). The president is expected to sign the bill into law.
The PREEMIE Act allocates $3 million per year for FY2007-2011 for the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish systems for the collection of maternal-infant clinical and biomedical information, including electronic health records, electronic databases, and biobanks, to link with the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and other epidemiological studies of prematurity in order to track pregnancy outcomes and prevent preterm birth. It allocates $5 million per year for FY2007-2011 for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the efficacy of existing prenatal and perinatal prevention and treatment programs, and to conduct ongoing epidemiological studies.
The bill provides $5 million per year for FY2007-2011 for educational outreach to health professionals and the public on preterm birth. It also establishs of the Interagency Coordinating Council on Prematurity at HHS to coordinate the legislation’s implementation.
