Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) estimates that in the United States, more than 1,100,000 people are
living with HIV, and 21 percent do not know they are 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 597,499 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 2007, African-Americans represented
48 percent of all people living with HIV in the United States, Whites
represented 33 percent, Hispanics represented 17 percent, Asian-Americans and
Pacific Islanders represented 1 percent, and American Indians and Alaska
Natives represented less than 1 percent;
Whereas African-Americans represent approximately 12
percent of the population of the United States, but accounted for 52 percent of
all new HIV cases diagnosed in 2008;
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, accounting for 35 percent of new infections
among all MSM and 63 percent of new infections among African-American
men;
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 and 4 times higher than
Hispanic 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 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 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, HIV was the ninth leading cause of death
for all African-Americans, and the third leading cause of death for both
African-America men and African-American women between the ages of 35 to
44;
Whereas in the United States as of January 6, 2011,
approximately 5,154 people across 10 States have been placed on waiting lists
to receive AIDS treatment through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program authorized
through the Ryan White CARE Act;
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 National 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, health care 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 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 July 13, 2010, after conducting a series of
town halls across the country to solicit feedback from communities impacted by
HIV/AIDS, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy released the
National AIDS Strategy for the United States
along with an
accompanying Federal Implementation Plan
to achieve the goals of
reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to care and improving health
outcomes for people living with HIV, reducing HIV-related disparities and
health inequities, and achieving a more coordinated national response to the
HIV epidemic;
Whereas the first annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day was organized on February 23, 2001; and
Whereas February 7 of each year is now recognized as
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with the slogan Get Educated! Get
Tested! Get Involved! Get Treated!
, and this year the theme is
It Takes A Village To Fight HIV/AIDS
: Now, therefore, be
it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)supports the goals and ideals of National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and recognizes the 11th 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 all
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)commends the work
of AIDS service organizations and community and faith-based organizations that
are providing effective, evidence-based, prevention, treatment, care, and
support services to people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS;
(5)supports the
implementation of the National AIDS Strategy and its goals to reduce new HIV
infections, increase access to care and improve health outcomes for people
living with HIV, reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities, and
achieve a more coordinated national response to the HIV epidemic;
(6)supports the
strengthening of stable African-American communities;
(7)supports reducing
the impact of incarceration as a driver of new HIV infections within the
African-American community;
(8)supports reducing the number of HIV
infections in the African-American community resulting from intravenous drug
use;
(9)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
(10)supports
appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and
housing.