[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1045 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1045
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 7, 2022
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Danny K. Davis of
Illinois, Ms. Norton, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Meng, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Cicilline,
Ms. Bass, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Dean, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Takano, Ms.
Barragan, Mr. Rush, and Ms. Titus) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day''.
Whereas ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day'' is a nationwide observance
that calls on people to take action to invest in the health, education,
and leadership of young people;
Whereas more than 40 years into the epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention estimates that in the United States more than 1,200,000
people are living with HIV, and every year approximately 40,000 people
acquire HIV;
Whereas, in 2019, youth aged 13 to 24 years composed 21 percent of the 36,398
new HIV diagnoses in the United States;
Whereas young people living with HIV are the least likely of any age group to be
retained in care and have a suppressed viral load;
Whereas 44 percent of young people living with HIV ages 13 to 24 are unaware of
their HIV status;
Whereas African-American youth are most impacted by the epidemic, representing
57 percent of new transmissions in young people ages 13 to 24;
Whereas African-American young men who have sex with men ages 13 to 24 comprise
34 percent or one-third of new transmissions among all young men who
have sex with men;
Whereas the National HIV/AIDS Strategy expands the fact that youth experience
worse HIV outcomes on status awareness, pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake,
and health outcomes;
Whereas the National HIV/AIDS Strategy recommends children and young adults with
HIV need tailored and often more intensive medical and support services
to support them as they grow and become young adults;
Whereas the Division of Adolescent and School Health is the only Federal program
supporting HIV prevention for adolescents in schools;
Whereas the Nation's largest Federal program dedicated to providing care and
treatment for people living with HIV was named after Ryan White, a
teenager from Indiana who helped educate a Nation about HIV and AIDS in
the 1980s;
Whereas the Ryan White Part D Program is one of the national efforts to link
young people living with HIV to medical care and support services;
Whereas the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides youth, including
those living with or impacted by HIV and AIDS, better access to health
care coverage, more health insurance options, additional funding for sex
education, a prohibition against denying people living with HIV access
to health care, and expanded access to Medicaid which will support more
young people living with HIV receiving care; and
Whereas April 10 of each year is now recognized as ``National Youth HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/
AIDS Awareness Day'';
(2) encourages State and local governments, including their
public health agencies, education agencies, schools, and media
organizations to recognize and support such a day;
(3) supports young people's right to education, prevention,
treatment, and care, and to live without criminalization,
discrimination, oppression, and stigma;
(4) promotes up-to-date, inclusive, culturally responsible,
and medically accurate information about HIV, such as pre-
exposure prophylaxis PreP, in sex education curricula to ensure
that all young people are educated about HIV, as called for in
the National HIV/AIDS Strategy;
(5) supports removal of HIV laws that are scientifically
inaccurate and unfairly criminalize young people living with
HIV for behaviors that are consensual or have no risk of
transmission;
(6) urges youth-friendly and accessible health care
services, especially access to medications such as pre-exposure
prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis, and antiretroviral
therapy without parental consent, to better provide for the
early identification of HIV through voluntary routine testing,
and to connect those in need to clinically and culturally
appropriate care and treatment as early as possible;
(7) supports the increase of funding for programs that
support people impacted by and living with HIV, including
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of
Adolescent and School Health, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program,
the Medicaid program, AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, and
programs that support medical mentorship, peer navigation,
educating communities on testing and treatment options, and
people accessing PrEP, and ensure a smoother transition to
adult HIV care;
(8) recommends a comprehensive prevention and treatment
strategy that empowers young people, parents, public health
workers, educators, faith leaders, and other stakeholders to
fully engage with their communities and families to help
decrease violence, discrimination, and stigma toward
individuals who disclose their sexual orientation or HIV
status; and
(9) calls for a generation free of HIV stigma in a manner
that prioritizes youth leadership and development in order to
ensure youth involvement in decisions which impact their health
and well-being as well as advance a pipeline for the next
generation of HIV and AIDS doctors, advocates, educators,
researchers, and other professionals.
<all>