[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 78 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 78
Supporting the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 6, 2019
Ms. Lee of California submitted the following concurrent resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in
addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Supporting the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day.
Whereas, since the identification of AIDS in 1981, an estimated 74,900,000
people have been infected with HIV, and more than 32,000,000 people have
died of AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses worldwide;
Whereas, in 2018, an estimated 1,700,000 people were newly infected with HIV,
23,300,000, people living with HIV (61 percent of the total) had access
to antiretroviral (ART) therapy, and 1,000,000 people died of the
disease;
Whereas worldwide, 37,900,000 people are living with HIV, only 79 percent of
whom know their status;
Whereas, since 2010, new HIV infections have declined by an estimated 16
percent, from 2.1 million to 1.7 million in 2018;
Whereas progress has been made globally in reducing mother-to-child transmission
of HIV, with new transmissions among children declining 41 percent since
2010;
Whereas girls and women make up more than half of the 37.9 million people living
with HIV worldwide;
Whereas young women and adolescent girls bear a disproportionate burden of HIV
worldwide (18,800,000);
Whereas AIDS-related opportunistic infections are the third-leading cause of
death among women aged 15 to 29 globally;
Whereas AIDS-related opportunistic infections remain the leading cause of death
among women aged 15 to 49 globally;
Whereas low-income and middle-income countries continue to bear the brunt of the
AIDS pandemic, with sub-Saharan Africa serving as the home of 54 percent
of all adults and children living with HIV, 56 percent of whom are women
and girls;
Whereas people living with HIV/AIDS are frequently susceptible to other
infections, such as hepatitis C and tuberculosis (TB);
Whereas at least one-third of those living with HIV are infected with latent
tuberculosis, which remains the leading cause of death among people
living with HIV;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in
the United States, 1,100,000 people are living with HIV and 14 percent
of those are not aware of their status;
Whereas in the United States, more than 700,000 people with AIDS have died since
the beginning of the epidemic, including nearly 13,000 in 2014;
Whereas each year nearly 40,000 people become newly diagnosed with HIV in the
United States;
Whereas minority communities are disproportionately affected by HIV in the
United States;
Whereas the CDC has found that transgender people, sex workers, people who
inject drugs, and other vulnerable populations have prevention
challenges that impact HIV health outcomes and barriers for seeking
high-quality care;
Whereas the CDC estimates that African Americans account for almost half (43
percent) of all new infections and represent more than one-third of all
people living with HIV in the United States, despite comprising about 13
percent of the population;
Whereas in the United States, African-American women are 18 times more likely to
become newly infected with HIV than White women, and Hispanic women are
5 times more likely to have AIDS than non-Hispanic White women;
Whereas among all women diagnosed with HIV at the end of 2014, an estimated 59
percent were African American, 20 percent were White, and 16 percent
were Hispanic or Latina;
Whereas, in 2018, youth aged 13 to 24 accounted for more than 20 percent of all
new HIV diagnoses in the United States, with nearly half of youth aged
13 to 24 unaware of their status;
Whereas men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly young MSM of color, are
the population most affected by HIV;
Whereas, in 2018, MSM accounted for 66 percent of new diagnoses among men and 67
percent of all new cases;
Whereas the national opioid epidemic is a threat to a resurgence of HIV cases
among people who inject drugs (PWID), with an estimated 7 percent of new
cases attributable to injection drug use;
Whereas Southern States bear the greatest burden of HIV in the United States,
accounting for more than half of new cases in 2017;
Whereas, in order to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, on
August 18, 1990, Congress enacted the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS
Resources Emergency (CARE) Act to provide primary medical care and
essential support services for people living with HIV who are uninsured
or underinsured;
Whereas the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides services and support for over
half of all people diagnosed with HIV in the United States and has been
reauthorized by Congress four times since it was first created (in 1996,
2000, 2006, and 2009);
Whereas to further focus attention on the HIV/AIDS epidemic among minority
communities in the United States, in 1998 the Minority AIDS Initiative
was established to provide funds to State and local institutions and
organizations to best serve the health care costs and support the needs
of racial and ethnic minorities living with HIV/AIDS;
Whereas the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) released an update of the
National HIV/AIDS Strategy targeting reducing new infections, increasing
access to care, reducing disparities, and achieving a more coordinated
response by 2020;
Whereas to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, in 2000, Congress passed the
Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act, providing the first
contribution and the founding framework for what became the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which provides grants to
developing countries to combat the 3 diseases;
Whereas, since the Global Fund was created in 2002, donors have pledged more
than $49,000,000,000 in funding (of which $15,000,000,000 has been
donated by the United States) and distributed $42,000,000,000 to over
120 countries;
Whereas, as of 2018, the Global Fund has saved lives by providing antiretroviral
(ARV) therapy for more than 18,900,000 people living with HIV, providing
access to treatment for TB for 5,300,000 people, and distributing over
131,000,000 insecticide-treated nets to fight malaria;
Whereas, in order to further address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, in 2003,
Congress and the White House created the President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR);
Whereas, in 2013, Congress extended the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR) through 2018 with the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight
Act of 2013 to continue to address HIV, TB, and malaria;
Whereas PEPFAR is currently supporting treatment for 11,500,000 men, women, and
children; critical care and support for 6,200,000 orphans and vulnerable
children; and in fiscal year 2016, PEPFAR supported HIV testing and
counseling for more than 74,300,000 people, including 11,500,000
pregnant women;
Whereas, as a result of these efforts, more than 11,000,000 AIDS-related deaths
and nearly 17,000,000 HIV transmissions have been averted worldwide
since PEPFAR began;
Whereas the United States Federal Government has announced this year the
``Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America'' initiative to end
domestic transmissions and the AIDS epidemic within the decade;
Whereas the international community has repeatedly and collectively committed to
the goals of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030 and creating an AIDS-
free generation;
Whereas the concept of World AIDS Day originated in 1988 and was established to
focus attention on the HIV/AIDS pandemic;
Whereas December 1 is now recognized as World AIDS Day and has been recognized
by governments, lawmakers, and organizations around the world; and
Whereas World AIDS Day 2019 is focused on communities making the difference
through recognizing the essential role that communities play in the AIDS
response at the international, national, and local levels: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day and
recognizes the 29th anniversary of observing this day;
(2) commends the President, State governments, and local
governments, including State and local public health agencies,
for recognizing this day, for publicizing its importance among
their communities, for encouraging individuals to undergo
testing for HIV, and for their other ongoing efforts
strengthened by the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative;
(3) commends national, State, and local media organizations
for carrying messages in support of World AIDS Day;
(4) supports the goal of ending HIV/AIDS, both in the
United States and around the world;
(5) supports continued funding for prevention, care,
treatment services, and research programs for persons living
with HIV/AIDS in the United States, including, through the Ryan
White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, the Minority HIV/AIDS
Initiative, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, the Office of Minority Health,
and the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(6) supports the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS
Strategy for the United States: Updated to 2020 (NHAS) and
achieving the goals within the NHAS Federal Action Plan;
(7) supports continued funding for PEPFAR and the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to provide
prevention, care, and treatment to combat HIV/AIDS in low-
income and middle-income countries;
(8) supports the goal of improving access to comprehensive
HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support programs;
(9) supports the goal of protecting human rights for all
people, including vulnerable and marginalized populations; and
(10) supports efforts to address the factors that make
populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS by combating poverty and
hunger, expanding educational opportunities for children, and
empowering women and girls.
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