[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 286 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 286

   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on promoting 
                 initiatives to develop an HIV vaccine.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 2005

    Mr. Visclosky (for himself, Mr. King of New York, and Ms. Lee) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                       on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on promoting 
                 initiatives to develop an HIV vaccine.

Whereas more than 20,000,000 people have died of the acquired immune deficiency 
        syndrome (hereinafter referred to as ``AIDS'') between 1984 and 2004;
Whereas AIDS claimed the lives of more than 3,000,000 people in 2004, and nearly 
        8,500 people die each day from AIDS;
Whereas an estimated 40,000,000 people around the world are living with the 
        human immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter referred to as ``HIV'') or 
        AIDS;
Whereas an estimated 14,000 people become infected with HIV every day;
Whereas there will be 45,000,000 new HIV infections by 2010 and nearly 
        70,000,000 deaths by 2020;
Whereas an estimated 14,000,000 children have lost 1 or both parents to AIDS, 
        and this number is expected to increase to 25,000,000 by 2010;
Whereas a child loses a parent to AIDS every 14 seconds;
Whereas more than 90 percent of the people infected with HIV live in the 
        developing world;
Whereas more than 70 percent of the people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan 
        Africa;
Whereas communities and countries are struggling with the devastating human and 
        economic toll that HIV and AIDS has taken on them;
Whereas the HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens political and regional stability and has 
        contributed to broader economic and social problems, including food 
        insecurity, labor shortages, and the orphaning of generations of 
        children;
Whereas the United States is leading global efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS 
        pandemic through its $15,000,000,000 Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and 
        its commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
        Malaria;
Whereas, through the World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations 
        Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis and Malaria, the international community is cooperating 
        multilaterally to combat HIV/AIDS;
Whereas developing an HIV vaccine is especially challenging due to the 
        complicated nature of the virus;
Whereas many biotechnology companies have not invested in the development of HIV 
        vaccines;
Whereas during the years 2001 and 2002, only 7 HIV vaccine candidates entered 
        clinical trials, and only 1 of those candidates entered advanced human 
        testing, but it proved ineffective;
Whereas the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has been a very 
        effective and positive force in the development of an HIV vaccine and 
        has been instrumental in laying the groundwork for developing an HIV 
        vaccine;
Whereas the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and 
        other public and private organizations are pursuing a variety of 
        initiatives to develop an HIV vaccine, including establishing BIO 
        Ventures for Global Health to help small biotechnology companies address 
        the problems they confront in developing new medical products for poor 
        countries;
Whereas, in June 2003, an international group of scientists proposed the 
        creation of a Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise;
Whereas, since that time the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise has been established, 
        creating an alliance of the world's leading scientists and independent 
        organizations committed to accelerating the development of a preventive 
        HIV vaccine by enhancing coordination, information sharing, and 
        collaboration globally;
Whereas the members of the Group of Eight (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, 
        Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) met in Sea 
        Island, Georgia in June 2004 and reaffirmed their commitment to combat 
        the global HIV/AIDS pandemic by accelerating and coordinating efforts to 
        develop an HIV vaccine;
Whereas at the meeting in Sea Island, Georgia, under the President's leadership, 
        the Group of Eight endorsed the establishment of the Global HIV Vaccine 
        Enterprise;
Whereas the United States has an HIV vaccine research and development center at 
        the National Institutes of Health, and the President announced funding 
        for the establishment of a second HIV vaccine research and development 
        center in the United States that will become a key compound of the 
        Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise;
Whereas the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise has developed and published a shared 
        scientific strategy that addresses the major obstacles to the 
        development of an HIV vaccine, summarizes current scientific priorities, 
        and describes an initial strategic approach to addressing these 
        priorities; and
Whereas an HIV vaccine has the potential to prevent new HIV and AIDS cases, 
        which would save millions of lives and dramatically reduce the negative 
        economic consequences of HIV and AIDS: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, 

SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
              AN HIV VACCINE.

    It is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) the President should seek to build on the initiative of 
        the members of the Group of Eight (Canada, France, Germany, 
        Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United 
        States) to develop a vaccine to curtail the spread of the human 
        immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter referred to as ``HIV'') and 
        should mobilize necessary economic and scientific support for 
        the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, an alliance of the world's 
        leading scientists and independent organizations committed to 
        accelerating the development of a preventive HIV vaccine by 
        enhancing coordination, information sharing, and collaboration 
        globally;
            (2) the President should continue to urge the members of 
        the Group of Eight and other countries to garner support from 
        their own economic, scientific, and philanthropic communities 
        for the development of an HIV vaccine;
            (3) the members of the Group of Eight should follow-up the 
        June 2004 meeting in Sea Island, Georgia with official and 
        private meetings, conferences, and other events to further 
        explore and implement initiatives concerning the Global HIV 
        Vaccine Enterprise;
            (4) the members of the Group of Eight should leverage 
        financial contributions from the international philanthropic 
        community to provide funding, including funding to the private 
        sector, to promote the development of an HIV vaccine;
            (5) the members of the Group of Eight should include the 
        scientific and political leadership of those countries most 
        affected by the pandemic of HIV and the acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome (hereinafter referred to as ``AIDS''); and
            (6) the members of the Group of Eight should develop a 
        specific plan for furthering efforts towards this goal prior to 
        the meeting of the Group of Eight planned for June 2005 in the 
        United Kingdom.

SEC. 2. THE GLOBAL HIV VACCINE ENTERPRISE.

    The House of Representatives urges the President to continue the 
efforts of the United States to generate global support for the Global 
HIV Vaccine Enterprise by carrying out an initiative that--
            (1) is in coordination and partnership with the members of 
        the Group of Eight, the private sector, and other countries, 
        especially those countries most affected by the HIV/AIDS 
        pandemic;
            (2) encourages the members of the Group of Eight to act 
        swiftly to mobilize money and resources to support the Global 
        HIV Vaccine Enterprise;
            (3) includes a strategic plan to prioritize the scientific 
        and other challenges to the development of an HIV vaccine, as 
        set out in the Scientific Strategic Plan developed by the 
        Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, to coordinate research and 
        product development efforts, and to encourage greater use of 
        information-sharing networks and technologies;
            (4) encourages the establishment of a number of coordinated 
        global HIV vaccine development centers that have a sufficient 
        number of researchers who possess the scientific expertise 
        necessary to advance the development of an HIV vaccine; and
            (5) increases cooperation, communication, and sharing of 
        information on issues related to HIV and AIDS among regulatory 
        authorities in various countries.
                                 <all>