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
1.
Sense of the Senate on the development of an HIV
vaccine
It is the sense of the Senate
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.
2.
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
The Senate 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.