[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 906 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 906

   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to encourage 
continued investment to complete the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine 
                         for the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2009

  Mr. Lewis of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, and Mr. 
Grijalva) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to encourage 
continued investment to complete the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine 
                         for the United States.

Whereas HIV affects the entire globe and comes in a variety of subtypes;
Whereas the United States is leading global efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS 
        pandemic through its $15,000,000,000 Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis and Malaria, which do not address the United States strain 
        of the virus, Clade B;
Whereas Clade B is the predominant subtype in the United States where the 
        estimated number of new HIV infections in adults and adolescents in 2006 
        was 56,300, the overall rate of new HIV infections was 22.8 cases per 
        100,000 population;
Whereas in 2007, the estimated rate of people who have progressed from HIV to 
        AIDS in the United States was 11.9 cases per 100,000 population;
Whereas from 2004 through 2007, the estimated number of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS 
        cases in the United States increased among all races and ethnicities, 
        with African-Americans accounting for 51 percent of all new HIV/AIDS 
        cases diagnosed in 2007;
Whereas from 2004 through 2007, the estimated number of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS 
        cases increased approximately 18 percent among males and 8 percent among 
        females, and males accounted for 74 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases among 
        adults and adolescents in 2007;
Whereas of the HIV infections diagnosed in 2006 in the 34 States with 
        confidential name-based HIV reporting, 36 percent progressed to AIDS 
        within 12 months after the HIV infection was diagnosed;
Whereas at the end of 2007, the AIDS prevalence rate among adults and 
        adolescents in the United States was estimated at 185.1 per 100,000 with 
        the highest prevalence rate in Washington, DC, estimated at 1,750.6 per 
        100,000 population;
Whereas through 2007, a total of 1,030,832 persons in the United States and 
        dependent areas had been reported as having AIDS since the epidemic 
        began;
Whereas each year, more than 14,000 people with AIDS die in the United States;
Whereas President Obama has pledged to develop and implement a comprehensive 
        national HIV/AIDS strategy that will include a focus on reducing HIV 
        incidence;
Whereas there are few alternatives for preventing HIV transmission other than 
        abstinence, education, circumcision, and condoms;
Whereas in 2002, the total aggregate lifetime cost of illness for people in the 
        United States newly diagnosed with HIV was estimated to be 
        $36,400,000,000;
Whereas it is estimated that patients on antiretroviral therapy have direct, 
        individual medical costs averaging $230,044, based on an estimated life 
        expectancy of 24.4 years after diagnosis;
Whereas in FY 2007, alone, the cost to the Federal Government for programs to 
        care for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States was 
        $13,200,000,000;
Whereas as with commonly used vaccines such as polio, if the population were 
        vaccinated for HIV, over time, the disease would decrease in prevalence 
        to the point where it could be essentially eradicated;
Whereas an HIV vaccine could be used to protect individuals from developing AIDS 
        or used to treat people already infected with HIV to prevent the disease 
        from progressing to AIDS;
Whereas there are three HIV/AIDS vaccines, out of approximately 100 original 
        vaccine candidates that were part of the Phase 1 protocols undertaken by 
        the NIH-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) that are presently in 
        clinical testing at the Phase 2 level and beyond;
Whereas two of the vaccines that were part of the Phase 1 protocols undertaken 
        by HVTN are viable candidates for preventing the United States strain of 
        HIV infection from progressing to AIDS;
Whereas in 2009, the results of a clinical trial conducted in Thailand indicated 
        that an AIDS vaccine was safe and reduced the chance of infection by 31 
        percent; and
Whereas despite the failure of other HIV/AIDS vaccines, the testing of the 
        remaining two vaccines which hold promise for preventing the United 
        States strain of the AIDS virus should be encouraged by public and 
        private sectors: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly encourages 
domestic efforts in the public and private sectors to invest in and 
complete the development of a vaccine for the United States strain of 
the HIV/AIDS virus, Clade B.
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