III 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 597 

Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS 

Day. 

Whereas an estimated 35,000,000 people were living with 

HIV/AIDS as of the end of 2013; 

Whereas the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 

established a global target of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015; 

Whereas the 2001 United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS mobilized global attention and commitment to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and set out a series 

of national targets and global actions to reverse the epidemic; 

Whereas the 2011 United Nations Political Declaration on 

HIV and AIDS provided an updated framework for intensified efforts to eliminate HIV and AIDS, including 


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redoubling efforts to achieve by 2015 universal access to 

HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support, and to 

eliminate gender inequalities and gender-based abuse and 

violence and increase the capacity of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection; 

Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 

Malaria was launched in 2002 and, as of November 

2013, supported programs in more than 140 countries 

that provided antiretroviral therapy to 6,600,000 people 

living with HIV/AIDS and antiretrovirals to 2,100,000 

pregnant women to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS to 

their babies; 

Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the Global 

Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; 

Whereas, for every dollar contributed to the Global Fund to 

Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by the United 

States, an additional $2 is leveraged from other donors; 

Whereas the United States President’s Emergency Plan for 

AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) initiative was proposed by President George W. Bush and passed Congress on a bipartisan vote in 2003, and remains the largest commitment 

in history by any nation to combat a single disease; 

Whereas, as of the end of September 2014, PEPFAR supported treatment for 7,700,000 people, up from 

1,700,000 in 2008, and in 2012, PEPFAR supported the 

provision of antiretroviral drugs to 750,000 pregnant 

women living with HIV to prevent the transmission of 

HIV from mother to child during birth; 


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Whereas PEPFAR directly supported HIV testing and counseling for more than 56,700,000 people in fiscal year 

2014; 

Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight 

against HIV/AIDS, with the number of new HIV infections estimated at 2,100,000 in 2013, a 38-percent reduction since 2001, new HIV infections among children 

reduced to 240,000 in 2013, a reduction of 58 percent 

since 2001, and AIDS-related deaths reduced to 

1,500,000 in 2013, a 35-percent reduction since 2005; 

Whereas increased access to antiretroviral drugs is the major 

contributor to the reduction in deaths from HIV/AIDS, 

and HIV treatment reinforces prevention because it reduces, by up to 96 percent, the chance the virus can be 

spread; 

Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised 

its guidelines for determining whether HIV positive individuals are eligible for treatment, thereby increasing the 

number of individuals eligible for treatment from about 

15,900,000 to 28,600,000; 

Whereas 13,600,000 people in low- and middle-income countries had access to antiretroviral therapy as of June 

2014; 

Whereas 19,000,000 of the 35,000,000 people living with 

HIV globally do not know their status, according to a 

2014 UNAIDS report; 

Whereas, although sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter 

of the epidemic with approximately 1,100,000 AIDS-related deaths in 2013, there have also been successes, with 

an approximate 33-percent decline in new HIV infections 

from 2005 to 2013 and a 39-percent decrease in the 


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number of AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa 

between 2005 and 2013; 

Whereas stigma, gender inequality, and lack of respect for 

the rights of HIV positive individuals remain significant 

barriers to access to services for those most at risk of 

HIV infection; 

Whereas President Barack Obama voiced commitment to realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation and his 

belief that the goal was within reach in his February 

2013 State of the Union Address; 

Whereas the international community is united in pursuit of 

achieving the goal of an AIDS-free generation; 

Whereas a UNAIDS 2014 report on the state of the global 

epidemic assessed that AIDS could be ended as a public 

health threat by 2030 if a fast-track response is taken 

and certain targets are realized by 2020, and further 

noted that doing so would avert nearly 28,000,000 new 

HIV infections and 21,000,000 AIDS-related deaths by 

2030; 

Whereas, during the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak of 2014, 

countries with PEPFAR-strengthened lab capacity, 

human capacity, and health facility capacity were able to 

contain Ebola outbreaks; 

Whereas, in August 2014, PEPFAR and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) launched an initiative 

to double the total number of children receiving treatment over the next two years in ten countries; 

Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally recognized as World AIDS Day; and 


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Whereas, in 2014, the theme for World AIDS Day commemorations was ‘‘Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free 

Generation’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of World 

3 AIDS Day, including seeking to get to zero new 

4 HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS5 related deaths; 

6 (2) applauds the goals and approaches for 

7 achieving an AIDS-free generation set forth in the 

8 PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Genera9 tion, as well as the targets set by United Nations 

10 member states in the 2011 United Nations Political 

11 Declaration on HIV and AIDS; 

12 (3) commends the dramatic progress in global 

13 AIDS programs supported through the efforts of 

14 PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuber15 culosis and Malaria, and UNAIDS; 

16 (4) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free 

17 generation is within reach, rapid action by all na18 tions towards— 

19 (A) full implementation of the Global Plan 

20 Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infec21 tions Among Children by 2015 and Keeping 

22 Their Mothers Alive to build on progress made 

23 to date; and 


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1 (B) further expansion and scale-up of 

2 antiretroviral treatment programs, including ef3 forts to reduce disparities and improve access 

4 for children to life-saving medications such as 

5 getting antiretroviral HIV medication to the 

6 2,000,000 children with HIV currently unable 

7 to access them; 

8 (5) calls for scaling up treatment to reach all 

9 individuals eligible for treatment under WHO guide10 lines; 

11 (6) calls for greater focus on the HIV-related 

12 vulnerabilities of women and girls, including those at 

13 risk for or who have survived violence or faced dis14 crimination as a result of the disease, and urges 

15 more directed efforts to ensure that they are con16 nected to the information, care, support, and treat17 ment they require; 

18 (7) supports efforts to ensure inclusive access 

19 to programs and appropriate protections for all 

20 those most at risk of HIV/AIDS and hardest to 

21 reach; 

22 (8) encourages additional private-public part23 nerships to research and develop better and more af24 fordable tools for the diagnosis, treatment, vaccina25 tion, and cure of HIV; 


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1 (9) supports continued leadership by the United 

2 States in bilateral, multilateral, and private sector 

3 efforts to fight HIV; 

4 (10) stresses the importance of ensuring that 

5 HIV and AIDS are central to the post-2015 United 

6 Nations development agenda and of advocating for 

7 the inclusion of targets under relevant goals towards 

8 achieving zero new HIV infections, zero discrimina9 tion, and zero AIDS-related deaths; 

10 (11) encourages and supports greater degrees 

11 of ownership and shared responsibility by developing 

12 countries in order to ensure sustainability of their 

13 domestic responses; and 

14 (12) encourages other members of the inter15 national community to sustain and scale up their 

16 support for and financial contributions to efforts 

17 around the world to combat HIV/AIDS. 

Æ 


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