Title: A resolution recognizing the importance of the goal of National Women's Health Week to empower adolescent girls and women of all ages to make informed choices about their sexual activity and effective steps to prevent against HIV.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Expresses support for: (1) the goals and ideals of National Women's Health Week to empower young women to make informed choices about their sexual activity and to take effective steps to protect against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); and (2) the investment of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe partnership, which aims to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 507 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 507

Recognizing the importance of the goal of National Women's Health Week 
  to empower adolescent girls and women of all ages to make informed 
  choices about their sexual activity and effective steps to prevent 
                              against HIV.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 15, 2018

 Mr. Booker submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
        the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the importance of the goal of National Women's Health Week 
  to empower adolescent girls and women of all ages to make informed 
  choices about their sexual activity and effective steps to prevent 
                              against HIV.

Whereas approximately \1/2\ of the 36,700,000 people living with human 
        immunodeficiency virus (commonly known as ``HIV'') worldwide are women;
Whereas approximately 1,000 adolescent girls and young women worldwide are 
        infected with HIV each day;
Whereas 22 percent of new HIV infections worldwide in 2016 were in young women 
        between 15 and 24 years of age;
Whereas 120,000 children worldwide died in 2016 of causes related to acquired 
        immune deficiency syndrome (commonly known as ``AIDS'');
Whereas AIDS is a leading cause of death among adolescents globally;
Whereas young girls who experience violence are 3 times more likely to be 
        infected with HIV, and a survey of 11 countries found that 1 in 3 women 
        reported their first sexual experience as forced or coerced;
Whereas girls account for 74 percent of new HIV infections among adolescents in 
        sub-Saharan Africa;
Whereas 1 in 4 people living with HIV in the United States is a female who is 13 
        years of age or older;
Whereas approximately 226,000 women live with HIV in the United States;
Whereas 20 percent of the AIDS diagnoses in the United States, from the 
        beginning of the epidemic through the end of 2015, were among women;
Whereas HIV affects all demographics of women, however, African-American women 
        are disproportionately affected;
Whereas African-American women made up more than 61 percent of new HIV 
        infections in 2015, while only accounting for 14 percent of the female 
        population in the United States;
Whereas \1/2\ of the women living with HIV in the United States are receiving 
        care;
Whereas only 4 in 10 HIV infected women in the United States have reached viral 
        suppression;
Whereas the annual number of HIV infections through perinatal transmission in 
        the United States has declined by over 90 percent since the early 1990s;
Whereas, when a woman living with HIV receives comprehensive care before, 
        during, and after a pregnancy, the risk of passing HIV to their child 
        reduces to less than 1 percent;
Whereas women and adolescent girls face serious prevention challenges due to 
        inadequate access to evidence-based, age appropriate comprehensive 
        sexuality and HIV prevention education and prevention tools, including--

    (1) male and female condoms;

    (2) pre-exposure prophylaxis (commonly referred to as ``PrEP'') and 
testing;

    (3) sexual and gender based violence prevention and care services; and

    (4) sexual and reproductive health information and services, including 
screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections;

Whereas PrEP regimens are more than 90 percent effective in reducing the risk of 
        HIV infection from sex, yet only 10 to 20 percent of at risk women were 
        aware of PrEP regimens as a viable HIV prevention option in 2014; and
Whereas transgender women and women who are lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and 
        intersex are between 19 and 40 percent more at risk of HIV than the 
        general population, and have risk factors that are exacerbated by 
        stigma, discrimination, and violence: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the importance of the goal of National 
        Women's Health Week to empower young women to make informed 
        choices about their sexual activity and take effective steps to 
        protect against human immunodeficiency virus (commonly referred 
        to as ``HIV'');
            (2) applauds the leadership of the United States on efforts 
        to eliminate new pediatric HIV infections in the United States 
        and around the world, and supports providing adolescent girls 
        and young women with the evidence-based approaches necessary to 
        prevent new HIV infections in themselves and their children;
            (3) supports the investment of the United States 
        President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (commonly referred 
        to as ``PEPFAR'') in the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, 
        Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) partnership, that 
        aims to significantly reduce new HIV infections among 
        adolescent girls and young women through evidence-based, multi-
        sectoral approaches and encourages PEPFAR to expand this 
        approach and investment;
            (4) commends PEPFAR for significantly reducing in 2017, for 
        the first time, new HIV infections among adolescent girls and 
        young women within the highest-burden areas of 10 sub-Saharan 
        African countries, and notes the need for ongoing work so women 
        and girls can realize their right to live free from HIV, 
        violence, and discrimination, including in the United States;
            (5) encourages State and local governments, including 
        public health agencies and media organizations, to recognize 
        and support National Women's Health Week, publicize its 
        importance among communities, and encourage individuals, 
        especially women and girls, to get tested for HIV;
            (6) supports effective and comprehensive HIV prevention 
        education programs targeted at women and girls to promote their 
        knowledge and access to information and services, including for 
        early identification of vulnerabilities through screening for 
        violence, testing, and other modalities that connect those in 
        need to evidence-based and human rights-based prevention, care, 
        and treatment services; and
            (7) urges continued investment and engagement across 
        foreign assistance programs and diplomatic efforts to address 
        violence against women and girls, to combat discrimination on 
        the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and to 
        recognize the inability of adolescent girls to access a full 
        range of their sexual and reproductive health and rights as a 
        key driver of the HIV pandemic.
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