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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 184

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to pediatric and adolescent

AIDS.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 12, 1996

Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. YATES, Mr.

MCDERMOTT, Ms. VALAZ ́QUEZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FROST, Mr. GREEN

of Texas, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. STOKES, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mrs.

MALONEY, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of

Texas, Mr. MANTON, Mr. OWENS, and Mr. NADLER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Commerce

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to

pediatric and adolescent AIDS.

Whereas more than 510,000 individuals in the United States

have been diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency

syndrome (commonly known as AIDS) and 319,849 have

died from the disease;

Whereas the Public Health Service has estimated that there

are currently between 630,000 and 900,000 persons in

the United States infected with HIV;
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•H CON 184 IH

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has

reported 6,948 cases of pediatric AIDS and 2,354 cases

of adolescent AIDS as of December 1995;

Whereas, because 1 in 5.5 of all reported AIDS cases is diagnosed in the 20- to 29-year-old age group and the median

incubation period between human immunodeficiency virus

(HIV) infection and AIDS diagnosis is nearly 10 years,

most of those people in their twenties who are diagnosed

with AIDS were adolescents when they became infected;

Whereas AIDS was the sixth leading cause of death among

children aged 1 to 4 in 1993 and if the incidence of

AIDS continues to increase, within the next 10 years

AIDS may become the fifth leading cause of death among

children of all ages in the United States;

Whereas AIDS is now the leading cause of death in the

United States among persons 25 to 44;

Whereas by the year 2000, between 72,000 and 125,000 children and adolescents in the United States will have lost

their mothers to HIV/AIDS;

Whereas in 1994 reported AIDS cases among women continued to grow at a faster rate than among men;

Whereas the Public Health Service estimates that approximately 100,000 women in the United States are infected

with HIV and an estimated 7,000 are expected to give

birth to children each year, and without intervention approximately 1,000 to 2,000 of these children will be infected with HIV;

Whereas 90 percent of children with AIDS have a parent

with, or at risk for, HIV infection;

Whereas 23.3 percent of reported pediatric AIDS cases in the

United States have occurred in New York City, and the
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•H CON 184 IH

South Bronx has the highest HIV seroprevalence rate

among newborns in the United States;

Whereas Philadelphia ranks among American cities most impacted by reported AIDS cases among children age 0 to

13; and the latest heel-stick test showed that 1 in 205

women were HIV positive in Philadelphia; and

Whereas ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by

AIDS, with 75 percent of women with AIDS and 81 percent of children with AIDS being African-American or

Hispanic: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

3 (1) it is important that the people of the United

4 States diligently seek preventative measures and bet5 ter solutions to care for women and youth, including

6 helping them gain access to HIV services and treat7 ment and other sexually transmitted disease clinical

8 therapies;

9 (2) early intervention and education resources

10 must be made available to all citizens, especially

11 youth and other high-risk groups, to make them

12 more aware of AIDS and the risks associated with

13 engaging in unprotected sexual activity or substance

14 abuse;

15 (3) the Health Care Financing Administration

16 and the Public Health Service should work with ap17 propriate State officials to help design optimal care
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•H CON 184 IH

1 packages needed for children, youth, and families

2 with AIDS or HIV infection especially as health care

3 system reforms are undertaken; and

4 (4) States and localities should recognize rel5 atives, extended family members, and other non6 biological relatives as an appropriate source of foster

7 care for children with AIDS whose parents can no

8 longer care for them, subject to the same review and

9 afforded the same benefits as other foster parents.

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