(a) The Director of the Institute, with the advice of the Institute’s advisory council, shall establish a National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Program (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Program”). The Director or ¹ the Institute shall, with respect to the Program, prepare and transmit to the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand, intensify and coordinate activities of the Institute respecting disorders of hearing (including tinnitus) and other communication processes, including diseases affecting hearing, balance, voice, speech, language, taste, and smell. The plan shall include such comments and recommendations as the Director of the Institute determines appropriate. The Director of the Institute shall periodically review and revise the plan and shall transmit any revisions of the plan to the Director of NIH.

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(b) Activities under the Program shall include—

(1) investigation into the etiology, pathology, detection, treatment, and prevention of all forms of disorders of hearing and other communication processes, primarily through the support of basic research in such areas as anatomy, audiology, biochemistry, bioengineering, epidemiology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, the neurosciences, otolaryngology, psychology, pharmacology, physiology, speech and language pathology, and any other scientific disciplines that can contribute important knowledge to the understanding and elimination of disorders of hearing and other communication processes;

(2) research into the evaluation of techniques (including surgical, medical, and behavioral approaches) and devices (including hearing aids, implanted auditory and nonauditory prosthetic devices and other communication aids) used in diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention of disorders of hearing and other communication processes;

(3) research into prevention, and early detection and diagnosis, of hearing loss and speech and language disturbances (including stuttering) and research into preventing the effects of such disorders on learning and learning disabilities with extension of programs for appropriate referral and rehabilitation;

(4) research into the detection, treatment, and prevention of disorders of hearing and other communication processes in the growing elderly population with extension of rehabilitative programs to ensure continued effective communication skills in such population;

(5) research to expand knowledge of the effects of environmental agents that influence hearing or other communication processes; and

(6) developing and facilitating intramural programs on clinical and fundamental aspects of disorders of hearing and all other communication processes.