Closing the HPV Testing Gap Act

Key Points

• This bill asks the National Institutes of Health to research and create a reliable HPV test for men. Right now, there is no FDA-approved test for men, even though the virus causes many cancers in both men and women.
• The study will look at easy ways to test for the virus, such as using urine samples or swabs from the mouth and throat. Researchers will have two years to finish their work and another six months to give a full report to Congress.
• Health experts believe that testing men will help lower cancer rates for everyone. It could help prevent throat and other cancers in men while also slowing the spread of the virus to women, which helps prevent cervical cancer.
• The plan focuses on making sure these tests are available to everyone, including people in underserved communities. It also sets up a group of experts from different government agencies to work together on getting the tests approved and used by the public.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.