IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 286 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on promoting initiatives 

to develop an HIV vaccine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2005 

Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, and Ms. LEE) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on 

promoting initiatives to develop an HIV vaccine. 

Whereas more than 20,000,000 people have died of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (hereinafter referred 

to as ‘‘AIDS’’) between 1984 and 2004; 

Whereas AIDS claimed the lives of more than 3,000,000 people in 2004, and nearly 8,500 people die each day from 

AIDS; 

Whereas an estimated 40,000,000 people around the world 

are living with the human immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘HIV’’) or AIDS; 

Whereas an estimated 14,000 people become infected with 

HIV every day; 
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Whereas there will be 45,000,000 new HIV infections by 

2010 and nearly 70,000,000 deaths by 2020; 

Whereas an estimated 14,000,000 children have lost 1 or 

both parents to AIDS, and this number is expected to increase to 25,000,000 by 2010; 

Whereas a child loses a parent to AIDS every 14 seconds; 

Whereas more than 90 percent of the people infected with 

HIV live in the developing world; 

Whereas more than 70 percent of the people infected with 

HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa; 

Whereas communities and countries are struggling with the 

devastating human and economic toll that HIV and 

AIDS has taken on them; 

Whereas the HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens political and regional stability and has contributed to broader economic 

and social problems, including food insecurity, labor 

shortages, and the orphaning of generations of children; 

Whereas the United States is leading global efforts to combat 

the HIV/AIDS pandemic through its $15,000,000,000 

Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and its commitment to 

the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; 

Whereas, through the World Health Organization, the Joint 

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 

and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 

Malaria, the international community is cooperating multilaterally to combat HIV/AIDS; 

Whereas developing an HIV vaccine is especially challenging 

due to the complicated nature of the virus; 
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Whereas many biotechnology companies have not invested in 

the development of HIV vaccines; 

Whereas during the years 2001 and 2002, only 7 HIV vaccine candidates entered clinical trials, and only 1 of those 

candidates entered advanced human testing, but it proved 

ineffective; 

Whereas the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) 

has been a very effective and positive force in the development of an HIV vaccine and has been instrumental in 

laying the groundwork for developing an HIV vaccine; 

Whereas the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and other public and private organizations are pursuing a variety of initiatives to develop an 

HIV vaccine, including establishing BIO Ventures for 

Global Health to help small biotechnology companies address the problems they confront in developing new medical products for poor countries; 

Whereas, in June 2003, an international group of scientists 

proposed the creation of a Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise; 

Whereas, since that time the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise 

has been established, creating an alliance of the world’s 

leading scientists and independent organizations committed to accelerating the development of a preventive 

HIV vaccine by enhancing coordination, information 

sharing, and collaboration globally; 

Whereas the members of the Group of Eight (Canada, 

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) met in Sea Island, Georgia 

in June 2004 and reaffirmed their commitment to com-
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bat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic by accelerating and 

coordinating efforts to develop an HIV vaccine; 

Whereas at the meeting in Sea Island, Georgia, under the 

President’s leadership, the Group of Eight endorsed the 

establishment of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise; 

Whereas the United States has an HIV vaccine research and 

development center at the National Institutes of Health, 

and the President announced funding for the establishment of a second HIV vaccine research and development 

center in the United States that will become a key compound of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise; 

Whereas the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise has developed 

and published a shared scientific strategy that addresses 

the major obstacles to the development of an HIV vaccine, summarizes current scientific priorities, and describes an initial strategic approach to addressing these 

priorities; and 

Whereas an HIV vaccine has the potential to prevent new 

HIV and AIDS cases, which would save millions of lives 

and dramatically reduce the negative economic consequences of HIV and AIDS: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

3 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN HIV VACCINE. 

4 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— 

5 (1) the President should seek to build on the 

6 initiative of the members of the Group of Eight 

7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, 

8 the United Kingdom, and the United States) to de-
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1 velop a vaccine to curtail the spread of the human 

2 immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter referred to as 

3 ‘‘HIV’’) and should mobilize necessary economic and 

4 scientific support for the Global HIV Vaccine Enter5 prise, an alliance of the world’s leading scientists 

6 and independent organizations committed to accel7 erating the development of a preventive HIV vaccine 

8 by enhancing coordination, information sharing, and 

9 collaboration globally; 

10 (2) the President should continue to urge the 

11 members of the Group of Eight and other countries 

12 to garner support from their own economic, sci13 entific, and philanthropic communities for the devel14 opment of an HIV vaccine; 

15 (3) the members of the Group of Eight should 

16 follow-up the June 2004 meeting in Sea Island, 

17 Georgia with official and private meetings, con18 ferences, and other events to further explore and im19 plement initiatives concerning the Global HIV Vac20 cine Enterprise; 

21 (4) the members of the Group of Eight should 

22 leverage financial contributions from the inter23 national philanthropic community to provide fund24 ing, including funding to the private sector, to pro25 mote the development of an HIV vaccine; 
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1 (5) the members of the Group of Eight should 

2 include the scientific and political leadership of those 

3 countries most affected by the pandemic of HIV and 

4 the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (herein5 after referred to as ‘‘AIDS’’); and 

6 (6) the members of the Group of Eight should 

7 develop a specific plan for furthering efforts towards 

8 this goal prior to the meeting of the Group of Eight 

9 planned for June 2005 in the United Kingdom. 

10 SEC. 2. THE GLOBAL HIV VACCINE ENTERPRISE. 

11 The House of Representatives urges the President to 

12 continue the efforts of the United States to generate glob13 al support for the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise by car14 rying out an initiative that— 

15 (1) is in coordination and partnership with the 

16 members of the Group of Eight, the private sector, 

17 and other countries, especially those countries most 

18 affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic; 

19 (2) encourages the members of the Group of 

20 Eight to act swiftly to mobilize money and resources 

21 to support the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise; 

22 (3) includes a strategic plan to prioritize the 

23 scientific and other challenges to the development of 

24 an HIV vaccine, as set out in the Scientific Strategic 

25 Plan developed by the Global HIV Vaccine Enter-
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1 prise, to coordinate research and product develop2 ment efforts, and to encourage greater use of infor3 mation-sharing networks and technologies; 

4 (4) encourages the establishment of a number 

5 of coordinated global HIV vaccine development cen6 ters that have a sufficient number of researchers 

7 who possess the scientific expertise necessary to ad8 vance the development of an HIV vaccine; and 

9 (5) increases cooperation, communication, and 

10 sharing of information on issues related to HIV and 

11 AIDS among regulatory authorities in various coun12 tries. 

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