A resolution commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day.

III 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 452 Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 10, 2019 Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. RISCH, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. SUL- LIVAN, and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day. Whereas, as of the end of 2018, an estimated 37,900,000 people were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), including 1,700,000 children; Whereas the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals established a global target to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030; Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was launched in 2002, and, as of 2018, has helped provide antiretroviral therapy to approximately 18,900,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and to 719,000 pregnant women to prevent the transmission of HIV/ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR452.IS SR452 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •SRES 452 IS AIDS to their children, saving an estimated 32,000,000 lives; Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and, as of December 2019, every $1 contributed by the United States has leveraged an additional $2 from other donors; Whereas the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program remains the largest commitment in history by any country to combat a single disease; Whereas, as of 2018, PEPFAR has supported treatment for approximately 14,600,000 people, including by providing antiretroviral drugs to 2,400,000 pregnant women living with HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV from moth- er to child during birth; Whereas, in fiscal year 2018, PEPFAR directly supported HIV testing and counseling for nearly 95,000,000 people; Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including a 16-percent reduction in new HIV infections, a 41-percent reduction in new HIV infections among children, and a 33-percent reduction in the number of AIDS-related deaths between 2010 and 2018; Whereas approximately 23,300,000 people had access to antiretroviral therapy in 2018, compared to only 7,700,000 people who had access to such therapy in 2010; Whereas it is estimated that, without treatment, 1⁄2 of all in- fants living with HIV will die before their second birth- day; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR452.IS SR452 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •SRES 452 IS Whereas, despite the remarkable progress in combatting HIV/AIDS, significant challenges remain; Whereas there were approximately 1,700,000 new HIV infec- tions in 2018, structural barriers continue to make test- ing and treatment programs inaccessible to highly vulner- able populations, and an estimated 8,100,000 people liv- ing with HIV globally still do not know their HIV status; Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention esti- mates that more than 37,000 people are diagnosed with HIV in the United States every year and 14 percent of the 1,100,000 people in the United States living with HIV are not aware of their HIV status; Whereas, in the United States, more than 675,000 people with AIDS have died since the beginning of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, including 15,807 deaths among people with diagnosed HIV in 2017, with the disease dispropor- tionately affecting minority communities; Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally recog- nized as ‘‘World AIDS Day’’; and Whereas, in 2019, commemorations for World AIDS Day fo- cused on the vital role that communities play in address- ing the HIV/AIDS epidemic: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) supports the goals and ideals of World 2 AIDS Day, including the goal to achieve zero new 3 HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS- 4 related deaths; 5 (2) commends the efforts and achievements in 6 combatting HIV/AIDS made by PEPFAR, the Glob- 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR452.IS SR452 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •SRES 452 IS al Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, 1 and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ 2 AIDS; 3 (3) supports efforts to end the HIV epidemic in 4 the United States by 2030; 5 (4) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free 6 generation is achievable, rapid action by all countries 7 toward further expansion and scale-up of 8 antiretroviral treatment programs, including efforts 9 to reduce disparities and improve access for children 10 to life-saving medications; 11 (5) encourages the scaling up of comprehensive 12 prevention services, including biomedical and struc- 13 tural interventions, to ensure inclusive access to pro- 14 grams and appropriate protections for all people at 15 risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, especially hard-to- 16 reach populations; 17 (6) calls for greater focus on the HIV-related 18 vulnerabilities of women and girls, including women 19 and girls at risk for or who have survived violence 20 or faced discrimination as a result of the disease; 21 (7) supports continued leadership by the United 22 States in domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and pri- 23 vate sector efforts to fight HIV; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR452.IS SR452 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •SRES 452 IS (8) encourages and supports greater degrees of 1 ownership and shared responsibility by developing 2 countries in order to ensure the sustainability of the 3 domestic responses to HIV/AIDS by those countries; 4 and 5 (9) urges other members of the international 6 community to sustain and scale up their support for 7 and financial contributions to efforts around the 8 world to combat HIV/AIDS. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR452.IS SR452 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS