text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Quality of Life for Women Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds as follows:
              (1) Women's pelvic floor disorders are a group of common 
          conditions that cause considerable disability and pain.
              (2) Such disorders include bladder and bowel dysfunction, 
          including incontinence. Another such disorder is pelvic organ 
          prolapse, which involves a downward shift of uterine or vaginal 
          structures from their normal positions. Often these conditions 
          coexist.
              (3) Women's pelvic floor disorders are extremely common and 
          are barriers to healthy living.
              (4) Women often suffer from a broad overlap of all pelvic 
          floor disorders, usually experiencing several disorders 
          simultaneously.
              (5) Thirty percent of American women will suffer from a 
          form of urinary incontinence.
              (6) Eleven percent of women in the United States have 
          surgery for urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse 
          during their lifetime, and close to one third will have a 
          second surgery. Many more women are treated with nonsurgical 
          techniques or remain untreated.
              (7) Of the 3 million vaginal deliveries that occur each 
          year in the United States, 900,000 women will develop 
          symptomatic urinary incontinence and a smaller number will 
          develop pelvic organ prolapse and bowel incontinence.
              (8) An estimated $26.3 billion is spent annually to either 
          treat or compensate for urinary incontinence.
              (9) Many health care providers are not prepared to evaluate 
          urinary pelvic floor disorders, including incontinence, and are 
          unaware of treatment options.
              (10) To address the public health threat posed by women's 
          pelvic floor disorders, there is a need for the establishment 
          of awareness and education programs directed at the public and 
          primary-care providers, including the authorization of research 
          focused on urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor 
          disorders. Such programs will greatly help promote better care 
          and treatment to those women afflicted with these disorders.
  
  SEC. 3. EDUCATION REGARDING WOMEN'S PELVIC FLOOR DISORDERS.
  
      (a) In General.--Part P of title III of the Public Health Service 
  Act (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
  following section:
  
  ``SEC. 399O. EDUCATION REGARDING WOMEN'S PELVIC FLOOR DISORDERS.
  
      ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Administrator 
  of the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Director of 
  the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall carry out a 
  program to provide education regarding bladder and bowel dysfunction 
  (including incontinence), pelvic organ prolapse, and other pelvic floor 
  disorders to health professionals and the general public. Activities 
  under such program shall be carried out directly by the Secretary and 
  through awards of grants or contracts to States, political subdivisions 
  of States, and other public or nonprofit private entities.
      ``(b) Certain Information.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
  education under subsection (a) includes, at a minimum--
              ``(1) information describing the prevalence of pelvic floor 
          disorders in women; and
              ``(2) information regarding treatment options for such 
          disorders.
      ``(c) Use of Internet.--The Secretary shall ensure that the means 
  through which education under subsection (a) is provided includes the 
  posting of information on the Internet site of the Centers for Disease 
  Control and Prevention. The Secretary shall ensure that, in the case of 
  health professionals, such means includes means in addition to the 
  posting of information on such site.
      ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
  out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
  may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010.''.
      (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that the 
  Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should 
  establish a national registry for surgical treatment of pelvic floor 
  disorders, especially procedures using new technology.
  
  SEC. 4. RESEARCH THROUGH NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.
  
      (a) In General.--Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service 
  Act (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
  following:
  
  ``SEC. 409J. WOMEN'S PELVIC FLOOR DISORDERS.
  
      ``(a) In General.--The Directors of the National Institute of 
  Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute 
  of Child Health and Human Development shall expand and intensify the 
  activities of such Institutes with respect to women's pelvic floor 
  disorders, including proposals for research on such disorders that are 
  developed independently of solicitations by the National Institutes of 
  Health for research proposals.
      ``(b) Networks.--
              ``(1) Urinary incontinence treatment network.--The Director 
          of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney 
          Diseases, in consultation with the Director of the National 
          Institute of Child Health and Human Development, shall provide 
          for the continuing operation of the Urinary Incontinence 
          Treatment Network. The Network was established pursuant to 
          financial awards from such Institutes, and includes multiple 
          continence treatment centers and a single biostatistical 
          coordinating committee. The Director shall ensure that not 
          fewer than eight such treatment centers are in operation and 
          may provide for the establishment of additional treatment 
          centers, subject to appropriations Acts.
              ``(2) Clinical trials network for female pelvic 
          disorders.--The Director of the National Institute of Child 
          Health and Human Development, in consultation with the Director 
          of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney 
          Diseases, shall provide for the continuing operation of the 
          Clinical Trials Network for Female Pelvic Disorders. The 
          Network was established pursuant to financial awards from such 
          Institutes, and includes multiple clinical sites and a single 
          data coordinating committee. The Director shall ensure that not 
          fewer than seven such clinical sites are in operation and may 
          provide for the establishment of additional clinical sites, 
          subject to appropriations Acts.
      ``(c) Peer Review.--With respect to technical and scientific peer 
  review under section 492, the Director of NIH shall ensure that groups 
  that review research proposals under this section include 
  urogynecologists and other pelvic floor specialists.''.
      (b) Sense of Congress.--
              (1) In general.--The Congress commends--
                      (A) the National Institute of Diabetes and 
                  Digestive and Kidney Diseases for its financial support 
                  of the Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network;
                      (B) the National Institute of Child Health and 
                  Human Development for its financial support of the 
                  Clinical Trials Network for Female Pelvic Disorders;
                      (C) the successful collaboration of such Institutes 
                  with respect to the Networks; and
                      (D) each of such Networks for the research it is 
                  conducting toward improving women's pelvic health.
              (2) Certain activities.--It is the sense of the Congress 
          that the Directors of the National Institute of Diabetes and 
          Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute of 
          Child Health and Human Development should--
                      (A) increase the size, scope, number, and funding 
                  for multidisciplinary research through centers and 
                  clinical sites of the Networks referred to in paragraph 
                  (1);
                      (B) encourage industry relationships in women's 
                  pelvic floor health related research;
                      (C) recruit established scientists from other 
                  relevant areas (such as cardiac or gastrointestinal 
                  physiology, cell signaling, biomechanical engineering, 
                  genomics, and proteomics) to apply their work to the 
                  urinary tract and incontinence by encouraging 
                  collaborative efforts between basic and clinical 
                  scientists;
                      (D) increase research funding for studies that use 
                  cellular and molecular techniques to examine the basic 
                  mechanisms of bladder and urethral interactions that 
                  create urinary continence and incontinence;
                      (E) support research to develop appropriate animal 
                  models of urinary incontinence;
                      (F) develop novel techniques (both invasive and 
                  noninvasive) for measuring neural, muscular (striated 
                  and smooth), and vascular function relating to pelvic 
                  floor health;
                      (G) identify risk factors for pelvic floor 
                  disorders and urinary incontinence related to 
                  childbirth and aging so that prevention measures and 
                  improved disease-specific treatment can be developed;
                      (H) initiate research to develop preventive and 
                  therapeutic approaches to urinary incontinence that are 
                  sensitive to gender, race, and culture, and develop the 
                  means of measuring outcomes for treatments in these 
                  varied settings;
                      (I) develop a national data registry and tissue 
                  bank of people suffering from incontinence to meet the 
                  needs of researchers for well-characterized tissue 
                  samples; and
                      (J) research the relationship between the anatomic 
                  changes of pelvic organ prolapse and the functional 
                  derangement's commonly seen in association with them, 
                  including voiding dysfunction and incontinence.
  
  SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF WOMEN'S PELVIC FLOOR HEALTH IN NATIONAL CHILDREN'S 
                STUDY.
  
      The Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human 
  Development shall include women's pelvic floor health as one of the 
  matters studied in the prospective cohort study regarding child health 
  and human development that is being conducted under section 1004(b) of 
  the Children's Health Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-310; 114 Stat. 1130) 
  and is known as the National Children's Study.
  
  SEC. 6. CONSULTATION.
  
      In carrying out this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
  Services shall consult with the American Urogynecologic Society and 
  such other qualified professional and patient organizations as the 
  Secretary determines to be appropriate.
target: Quality of Life for Women Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to educate health professionals and the public on bladder and bowel dysfunction (including incontinence), pelvic organ prolapse, and other pelvic floor disorders.
  
  Expresses the sense of Congress that the Director should establish a national registry for surgical treatment of such disorders.
  
  Requires the Directors of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to: (1) expand and intensify the activities of such Institutes with respect to women's pelvic floor disorders, including developing proposals for research on such disorders; and (2) provide for the continuing operation of the Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network and the Clinical Trials Network for Female Pelvic Disorders. Commends such Institutes for their support of such Networks and such Networks for their research toward improving women's pelvic health.
  
  Expresses the sense of Congress as to efforts that such Institutes should undertake, including increasing their research, recruiting established scientists, and developing a national data registry and tissue bank of people suffering from incontinence.
feat_title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for educational activities and research with respect to women's pelvic floor health through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.