III 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 314 

Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2013 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. ISAKSON) 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 are living with HIV/ 

AIDS in 2013; 

Whereas Target 6a of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals is to halt and begin to reverse the spread 

of HIV/AIDS by 2015; 

Whereas the 2001 United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS Global 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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•SRES 314 IS 

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 6,100,000 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 hosted the Global Fund’s Fourth 

Voluntary Replenishment Conference on December 2–3, 

2013; 

Whereas the United States President’s Emergency Plan for 

AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), introduced by President George 

W. Bush in 2003, remains the largest commitment in 

history by any nation to combat a single disease; 

Whereas, as of the end of September 2012, PEPFAR supported treatment for 5,100,000 people, up from 

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

provision of antiretroviral drugs to 750,000 pregnant 

women living with HIV to prevent the transmission of 

HIV from mother to baby during birth; 


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•SRES 314 IS 

Whereas PEPFAR directly supported HIV testing and counseling for more than 46,500,000 people in fiscal year 

2012; 

Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight 

against HIV/AIDS, with total new HIV infections estimated at 2,300,000 in 2012, a 33-percent reduction since 

2001; new HIV infections among children reduced to 

260,000 in 2012, a reduction of 52 percent since 2001; 

and AIDS-related deaths reduced to 1,600,000 in 2012, 

a 30-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 

15,000,000 to 28,000,000; 

Whereas 9,700,000 people in low- and middle-income countries had access to antiretroviral therapy by the end of 

2012, an increase of nearly 20 percent in a year; 

Whereas an estimated 50 percent of those living with HIV do 

not know their status, according to a 2012 UNAIDS report; 

Whereas sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter of the epidemic, accounting for 1,200,000 of the 1,600,000 deaths 

from HIV/AIDS; 

Whereas stigma, gender inequality, and lack of respect for 

the rights of HIV positive individuals remain significant 


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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 by 2015; 

Whereas international donor funding has held steady since 

2008 and countries affected by the epidemic are increasingly taking responsibility for funding and sustaining 

programs in their countries, currently accounting for approximately 53 percent of global HIV/AIDS resources; 

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

Whereas, in 2013, World AIDS Day commemorations focused 

on: ‘‘[g]etting to zero: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths’’: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of World 

3 AIDS Day, including getting to zero through zero 

4 new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero 

5 AIDS-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 


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1 member states in the 2011 United Nations Political 

2 Declaration on HIV and AIDS; 

3 (3) commends the dramatic progress in global 

4 AIDS programs supported through the efforts of 

5 PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuber6 culosis and Malaria, and UNAIDS; 

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

8 generation is within reach, rapid action towards— 

9 (A) full implementation of the Global Plan 

10 Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infec11 tions Among Children by 2015 and Keeping 

12 Their Mothers Alive to build on progress made 

13 to date; and 

14 (B) further expansion and scale-up of 

15 antiretroviral treatment programs, including ef16 forts to reduce disparities and improve access 

17 for children to life-saving medications; 

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

19 individuals eligible for treatment under WHO guide20 lines; 

21 (6) calls for greater focus on HIV/AIDS 

22 vulnerabilities of women and girls, including more 

23 directed efforts to ensure that they are connected to 

24 the information, care, and treatment they require; 


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1 (7) supports efforts to ensure inclusive access 

2 to programs and human rights protections for all 

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

4 reach; 

5 (8) encourages additional private-public part6 nerships to research and develop better and more af7 fordable tools for the diagnosis, treatment, vaccina8 tion, and cure of HIV; 

9 (9) supports continued leadership by the United 

10 States in bilateral, multilateral, and private sector 

11 efforts to fight HIV; 

12 (10) encourages and supports greater degrees 

13 of ownership and shared responsibility by developing 

14 countries in order to ensure sustainability of their 

15 domestic responses; and 

16 (11) encourages other members of the inter17 national community to sustain and scale up their 

18 support for and financial contributions to efforts 

19 around the world to combat HIV/AIDS. 

Æ 


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