Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Global HIV/AIDS Food Security and Nutrition Support Act of 2007

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)The spread of HIV/AIDS is exacerbated by poverty, and economic and social vulnerability, disempowerment, and inequality. (2)Food insecurity has a direct detrimental impact on prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. (3)Programming for HIV/AIDS must address the underlying factors that contribute to the spread of the disease in order to be effective and sustainable. (4)The World Food Program estimates that 6,400,000 people affected by HIV will need nutritional support by 2008. (5)The highest rates of HIV infections are in countries with significant rates of malnutrition, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. (6)People living with HIV/AIDS are less productive due to illness, which contributes to food insecurity for such individuals and their households through loss of wages and/or decreased agricultural production. (7)People caring for HIV-infected persons are often less productive because of the demands of caring for those persons, which in turn can lead to food insecurity for the infected person and the entire household. (8)Adequate nutrition can extend the time that people infected with HIV are able to work and be productive. (9)Food insecurity is often cited by people living with HIV/AIDS as their number one concern.

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that— (1)malnutrition, especially for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, is a clinical health issue with wider nutrition, health, and social implications for HIV-infected individuals, their families, and communities that must be addressed by United States HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support programs; (2)international guidelines established by the World Health Organization should serve as the reference standard for HIV/AIDS food and nutrition activities supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); (3)the Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (commonly known as the Global AIDS Coordinator) should make it a priority to work with other United States Government departments and agencies, donors, and multilateral institutions to increase the integration of food and nutrition support and livelihood activities into prevention, care, and treatment activities funded by the United States and other governments and organizations; (4)for the purposes of determining which HIV-infected individuals should be provided with nutrition and food support, a patient with a body mass index of 18.5 or less should be considered malnourished and should be given priority for nutrition and food support; (5)programs funded by the United States Government should include therapeutic and supplementary feeding, food, and nutrition support and should include strong links to development programs that focus on support for livelihoods; and (6)the inability of HIV-infected individuals to access food for themselves or their families should not be allowed to impair or erode the therapeutic status of such individuals with respect to HIV or related comorbidities.

Statement of policy

It is the policy of the United States to— (1)address the food and nutrition needs of HIV-infected and affected individuals, including orphans and vulnerable children; (2)fully integrate food and nutrition support into care, treatment, and support programs carried out under the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25; 22 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.); (3)ensure that— (A)care, treatment, and support providers and healthcare workers are adequately trained such that they can provide accurate and informed information regarding food and nutrition support to patients enrolled in treatment and care programs and those affected by HIV; and (B)HIV-infected individuals identified as food insecure, as well as their households, are provided with adequate food and nutrition support; and (4)effectively link food and nutrition support to HIV-infected individuals and their households and communities provided under Public Law 108–25 to other food security and livelihood programs funded by the United States Government and other donors and multilateral agencies.

Integration of food security and nutrition activities into HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support activities

Section 301 of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25; 22 U.S.C. 7631) is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

(c)

Integration of food security and nutrition activities into prevention, care, treatment, and support activities

(1)

Statement of policy

Congress declares that food security and nutrition directly impact a patient’s vulnerability to HIV infection, the progression of HIV to AIDS, a patient’s ability to begin an anti-retroviral medication treatment regimen, the efficacy of an anti-retroviral medication treatment regimen once a patient begins such a regimen, and the ability of communities to effectively cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impacts. (2)

Requirements

Consistent with the statement of policy in paragraph (1), the Global AIDS Coordinator shall— (A)ensure that— (i)an assessment, using validated criteria, of the food security and nutritional status of each patient enrolled in anti-retroviral medication treatment programs supported with funds authorized under this Act or any amendment made by this Act is carried out; and (ii)appropriate nutritional counseling is provided to each patient described in clause (i); (B)provide, as an essential component of anti-retroviral medication treatment programs supported with funds authorized under this Act or any amendment made by this Act, food and nutrition support to each HIV-infected individual who is determined to need such support by the assessing health professional, and the individual’s household, for a period of not less than 180 days, either directly or through referral to an assistance program or organization with demonstrable ability to provide such support; (C)coordinate with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and heads of other relevant United States Government departments and agencies to— (i)ensure that, in communities in which a significant proportion of HIV-infected individuals are in need of food and nutrition support, a status and needs assessment for such support employing validated criteria is conducted and a plan to provide such support is developed and implemented; (ii)improve and enhance coordination between food security and livelihood programs for HIV-infected individuals in focus countries and food security and livelihood programs that may already exist in those countries; (iii)establish effective linkages between the health and agricultural development and livelihoods sectors in order to enhance food security; and (iv)ensure, by providing increased resources if necessary, effective coordination between activities authorized under this Act or any amendment made by this Act and activities carried out under other provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 when establishing new HIV/AIDS treatment sites; (D)develop effective, validated indicators which measure outcomes of nutrition and food security interventions carried out under this section and use such indicators to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions; and (E)support and expand partnerships and linkages between United States colleges and universities with colleges and universities in focus countries in order to provide training and build indigenous human and institutional capacity and expertise to respond to HIV/AIDS, and to improve capacity to address nutrition, food security and livelihood needs of HIV/AIDS-affected and impoverished communities. (3)

Report

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Global HIV/AIDS Food Security and Nutrition Support Act of 2007, and annually thereafter, the Global AIDS Coordinator shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this subsection for the prior fiscal year. The report shall include a description of— (A)the indicators described in paragraph (2)(D) and a description of the effectiveness of interventions carried out to improve the nutritional status of HIV-infected individuals; (B)the amount of funds provided for food and nutrition support for HIV-infected and affected individuals in the prior fiscal year and the projected amount of funds to be provided for such purpose for next fiscal year; and (C)a strategy for improving the linkage between assistance provided with funds authorized under this subsection and food security and livelihood programs under other provisions of law as well as activities funded by other donors and multilateral organizations. (4)

Definitions

In this subsection: (A)

Focus countries

The term focus countries means countries described in section 1(f)(2)(B)(ii)(VII) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by section 102(a) of this Act) and designated by the President pursuant to such section. (B)

Global aids coordinator

The term Global AIDS Coordinator means the Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (as described in section 1(f) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by section 102(a) of this Act)). (5)

Authorization of appropriations

To carry out this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Global AIDS Coordinator such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2014.