Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) estimates that in the United States, at the end of 2006, 1,106,400 people
were living with the HIV, and 21 percent did not know they were
infected;
Whereas each year 56,300 people become newly infected with
HIV in the United States, and on average, an individual is infected with HIV
every 9½ minutes;
Whereas a total of 583,298 people have died of AIDS in the
United States from the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic through 2007, and
African-Americans account for approximately 40 percent of such deaths;
Whereas at the end of 2006, African-Americans represented
46 percent of all people living with HIV in the United States, Whites
represented 35 percent, Hispanics represented 18 percent, Asian-Americans and
Pacific Islanders represented 1 percent, and American Indians and Alaska
Natives represented less than 1 percent;
Whereas African-Americans account for approximately 12
percent of the population of the United States, but accounted for 51 percent of
all HIV/ADS cases diagnosed in 2007;
Whereas although African-American teens (ages 13–19)
represent only 15 percent of all teenagers in the United States, they accounted
for 68 percent of new AIDS cases reported among teens in 2007;
Whereas young gay men of color bear a disproportionate
burden of the epidemic, with more new HIV infections in 2006 occurring among 13
to 29 year old African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) than among any
other subpopulation of MSM;
Whereas in 2006, African-American women accounted for 61
percent of new HIV infections among women and had an infection rate that was
almost 15 times higher than that of White women;
Whereas among African-American men, the leading
transmission category of HIV infection is sexual contact with other men,
followed by intravenous drug use and heterosexual contact;
Whereas among African-American women, the leading
transmission category of HIV infection is heterosexual contact, followed by
intravenous drug use;
Whereas the Black AIDS Institute notes that there are more
African-Americans living with HIV in the United States than there are people
living with HIV in 7 out of the 15 focus countries served by the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief;
Whereas the CDC notes that socioeconomic issues impact the
rates of HIV infection among African-Americans, and studies have found an
association between higher AIDS rates and lower incomes;
Whereas in 2007, the rate of AIDS diagnoses for Black
women was 22 times the rate for White women and the rate of AIDS diagnoses for
Black men was almost 8 times the rate for White men;
Whereas African-Americans are diagnosed with AIDS later
than their nonminority counterparts, are confronted with barriers in accessing
care and treatment, and face higher morbidity and mortality outcomes;
Whereas the CDC estimates that among persons whose
diagnosis of AIDS had been made during 1997 to 2004, African-Americans had the
poorest survival rates of any racial or ethnic group, with 66 percent surviving
after 9 years compared with 67 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives,
74 percent of Hispanics, 75 percent of Whites, and 81 percent of Asians and
Pacific Islanders;
Whereas in 2006, AIDS was the fourth leading cause of
death for African-American men and the third for African-American women, ages
25 to 44, ranking higher than for their respective counterparts in any other
racial or ethnic group;
Whereas in 1998, Congress and the Clinton Administration
created the National Minority AIDS Initiative to help coordinate funding, build
capacity, and provide prevention, care, and treatment services within the
African-American, Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American
communities;
Whereas the Minority AIDS Initiative assists with
leadership development of community-based organizations (CBOs), establishes and
links provider networks, builds community prevention infrastructure, promotes
technical assistance among CBOs, and raises awareness among African-American
communities;
Whereas, on April 7, 2009, the CDC launched a new
communication campaign entitled Act Against AIDS
, to facilitate
awareness, public education, health literacy, healthcare provider marketing,
and highly targeted behavior change communication objectives in the fight
against HIV/AIDS;
Whereas as part of the Act Against AIDS
campaign, the CDC launched a $10,000,000, five-year partnership with 14
African-American organizations to harness the collective strength and
reach of traditional, longstanding African-American institutions to increase
HIV-related awareness, knowledge, and action within black communities across
the United States
;
Whereas the Black AIDS Media Partnership in conjunction
with the CDC’s Act Against AIDS
campaign has launched
Greater Than AIDS
, a public information campaign designed to
reach African-Americans with life-saving information about HIV/AIDS and to
confront the stigma surrounding the disease;
Whereas, on February 23, 2001, the first annual
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
was organized, with the
slogan Get Educated, Get Involved, Get Tested
; and
Whereas February 7 of each year is now recognized as
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
and this year the slogan
is “HIV/AIDS Prevention—A Choice and a Lifestyle”: Now, therefore, be it
That Congress—
(1)supports the goals and ideals of
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
and recognizes the 10th
anniversary of observing such day;
(2)encourages State
and local governments, including their public health agencies, to recognize
such day, to publicize its importance among their communities, and to encourage
individuals, especially African-Americans, to get tested for HIV;
(3)encourages
national, State, and local media organizations to carry messages in support of
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
;
(4)supports the
development of a national AIDS strategy with clear goals and objectives to
reduce new HIV infections, especially among African-Americans, men who have sex
with men, and other vulnerable communities;
(5)supports the
strengthening of stable African-American communities;
(6)supports reducing
the impact of incarceration as a driver of new HIV infections within the
African-American community;
(7)supports reducing
the number of HIV infections in the African-American community resulting from
injection drug use;
(8)supports effective
and comprehensive HIV prevention education programs to promote the early
identification of HIV through voluntary routine testing, and to connect those
in need to treatment and care as early as possible; and
(9)supports
appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and
housing.