IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 960 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of HIV 

pre-exposure prophylaxis research, education, and usage, and addressing 

the barriers to receiving this treatment, especially for communities of 

color, gay and bisexual men, and transgender people. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2018 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. POCAN) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in 

support of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis research, education, and usage, and addressing the barriers to receiving this treatment, especially for communities of color, 

gay and bisexual men, and transgender people. 

Whereas pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is medication that 

is used to help prevent the contraction of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); 

Whereas currently PrEP is a daily pill consisting of two 

medications, tenofovir and emtricitabine, that an individual can take orally, which can greatly reduce the likelihood of contracting HIV; 


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Whereas if used properly, PrEP can reduce the risk of contracting HIV from sex by up to 99 percent and can reduce the risk of contracting HIV among people who inject drugs by more than 70 percent; 

Whereas PrEP can be used by anyone who currently does not 

have HIV and is at substantial risk of contracting the 

virus; 

Whereas quarterly screening for sexually transmitted infections (STI), including testing at extra-genital sites, significantly increases detection of gonorrhea, chlamydia, 

and syphilis for those on PrEP, providing opportunities 

for prompt treatment, partner therapy, and prevention of 

STI-related morbidity; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 

HIV/AIDS prevention efforts are under the direction of 

the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, 

STD, and TB Prevention whose mission includes preventing HIV infection and reducing the incidence of HIVrelated illness and death; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 

conducting projects such as Project PrIDE and Project 

THRIVE which work to support State and local health 

department demonstration projects for providing comprehensive HIV prevention and care services for the 

LGBTQA community and specific communities of color; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that approximately 500,000 African Americans 

and nearly 300,000 Latinos across the Nation could have 

potentially benefitted from PrEP based on CDC clinical 

guidelines in 2015–2016, but only 7,000 prescriptions 


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were filled for African Americans and only 7,600 for 

Latinos during the same time period; 

Whereas Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health 

used a national prescription database to estimate that 

61,298 people were using PrEP as of 2017, the majority 

of whom were White men, over the age of 24, and living 

in the Northeast, meaning that the medication is not 

reaching communities of color who are at higher risk of 

contracting HIV; 

Whereas more work needs to be done to further educate the 

public and health care professionals about PrEP to address this disparity; 

Whereas the United States should continue to commit itself 

to the goal of eradicating HIV; and 

Whereas it is more cost effective to prevent diseases than to 

treat them: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the value of pre-exposure prophy3 laxis (PrEP) as an effective prevention tool in com4 bating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); 

5 (2) supports the research, education, and usage 

6 of the current PrEP and encourages the medical 

7 community, both private and public, to continue 

8 working on creating new PrEP medications to re9 duce the spread of HIV; 

10 (3) calls on Congress to increase funding to ex11 isting programs that are working to educate the 

12 public and healthcare professionals about PrEP, how 


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1 it works, how and when to prescribe these medicines, 

2 and how individuals who qualify to take the regimen 

3 can obtain it; and 

4 (4) calls on the Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services to— 

6 (A) conduct a departmentwide review on 

7 the outreach efforts of all HIV prevention pro8 grams in agencies such as the Health Resources 

9 and Service Administration, the Centers for 

10 Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance 

11 Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra12 tion, and others to ensure that they are con13 ducting effective outreach, especially to commu14 nities of color, gay and bisexual men, and 

15 transgender people; and 

16 (B) conduct a study on the solutions to the 

17 barriers individuals face in accessing PrEP 

18 medication and its associated services, such as 

19 HIV and other STI screening, especially among 

20 communities of color, gay and bisexual men, 

21 and transgender people. 

Æ 


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