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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 597 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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 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;
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 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
Whereas, in 2014, the theme for World AIDS Day commemorations was ``Focus, 
        Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day, 
        including seeking to get to zero new HIV infections, zero 
        discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths;
            (2) applauds the goals and approaches for achieving an 
        AIDS-free generation set forth in the PEPFAR Blueprint: 
        Creating an AIDS-free Generation, as well as the targets set by 
        United Nations member states in the 2011 United Nations 
        Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS;
            (3) commends the dramatic progress in global AIDS programs 
        supported through the efforts of PEPFAR, the Global Fund to 
        Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and UNAIDS;
            (4) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free generation 
        is within reach, rapid action by all nations towards--
                    (A) full implementation of the Global Plan Towards 
                the Elimination of New HIV Infections Among Children by 
                2015 and Keeping Their Mothers Alive to build on 
                progress made to date; and
                    (B) further expansion and scale-up of 
                antiretroviral treatment programs, including efforts to 
                reduce disparities and improve access for children to 
                life-saving medications such as getting antiretroviral 
                HIV medication to the 2,000,000 children with HIV 
                currently unable to access them;
            (5) calls for scaling up treatment to reach all individuals 
        eligible for treatment under WHO guidelines;
            (6) calls for greater focus on the HIV-related 
        vulnerabilities of women and girls, including those at risk for 
        or who have survived violence or faced discrimination as a 
        result of the disease, and urges more directed efforts to 
        ensure that they are connected to the information, care, 
        support, and treatment they require;
            (7) supports efforts to ensure inclusive access to programs 
        and appropriate protections for all those most at risk of HIV/
        AIDS and hardest to reach;
            (8) encourages additional private-public partnerships to 
        research and develop better and more affordable tools for the 
        diagnosis, treatment, vaccination, and cure of HIV;
            (9) supports continued leadership by the United States in 
        bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts to fight 
        HIV;
            (10) stresses the importance of ensuring that HIV and AIDS 
        are central to the post-2015 United Nations development agenda 
        and of advocating for the inclusion of targets under relevant 
        goals towards achieving zero new HIV infections, zero 
        discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths;
            (11) encourages and supports greater degrees of ownership 
        and shared responsibility by developing countries in order to 
        ensure sustainability of their domestic responses; and
            (12) encourages other members of the international 
        community to sustain and scale up their support for and 
        financial contributions to efforts around the world to combat 
        HIV/AIDS.
                                 <all>
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