[Federal Register: January 13, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 8)]
[Notices]               
[Page 1972-1973]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13ja98-56]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 
Termination of Travelers' Health Voice Service to the Public

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (DHHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the termination of the availability of 
Travelers' Health disease and health risk information by voice service 
to the public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roz Dewart, Chief, Travelers' Health 
Section, Division of Quarantine, National Center for Infectious 
Diseases,

[[Page 1973]]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton Road, 
Mailstop E-03, Atlanta, GA 30333.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Consistent with OMB A-130 circular, Section 
8.a.6.(j), Federal agencies are required to: ``Provide adequate notice 
when initiating, substantially modifying, or terminating significant 
information dissemination products * * *''.
    The Division of Quarantine's Travelers' Health Voice/Fax service is 
a major part of the CDC Voice/Fax Information Service. This service 
allows any caller access to the most current health related information 
by using a Touch-Tone telephone. The service has been in operation for 
7 years, and in the most recent 12-month period received nearly 1 
million telephone calls, providing automated voice-response information 
to those callers; it also provided 1.5 million pages of automated fax 
information. Information is provided in several levels of detail and 
complexity to reach a broad audience more effectively, including the 
general public and health-care professionals.
    The Travelers' Health Voice/Fax service is undergoing major 
renovation. With the innovations in telecommunications technology and 
the wide availability of fax machines, the voice component of this 
service is much less effective. The necessarily lengthy text is 
difficult to listen to and capture all critical recommendations. 
Analysis of call flow indicated ``caller hang-up'' before the complete 
message was delivered. Receipt of hard-copy fax documents ensures that 
travelers and their health-care providers have accurate and 
comprehensive messages. The fax system also permits their careful 
review of the complex information. Therefore, the voice component of 
the Travelers' Health Voice/Fax service will terminate in December 
1997. The revised service will provide international travelers and 
health-care providers a more efficient and user-friendly service. The 
Travelers' Health Information will be available by fax through a toll-
free call. In addition, the same information will be on the Internet on 
the CDC web site at: http://www.cdc.gov (select Travelers' Health).

    Dated: January 7, 1998.
Joseph R. Carter,
Acting Associate Director for Management and Operations, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 98-746 Filed 1-12-98; 8:45 am]
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