[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 314 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 314

       Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 10, 2013

    Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Isakson) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
       Commemorating and supporting the goals of World AIDS Day.

Whereas an estimated 35,000,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in 2013;
Whereas Target 6a of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals is to halt 
        and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015;
Whereas the 2001 United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS Global 
        mobilized global attention and commitment to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and 
        set out a series of national targets and global actions to reverse the 
        epidemic;
Whereas the 2011 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS provided 
        an updated framework for intensified efforts to eliminate HIV and AIDS, 
        including redoubling efforts to achieve by 2015 universal access to HIV 
        prevention, treatment, care, and support, and to eliminate gender 
        inequalities and gender-based abuse and violence and increase the 
        capacity of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the 
        risk of HIV infection;
Whereas the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was launched in 
        2002 and, as of November 2013, supported programs in more than 140 
        countries that provided antiretroviral therapy to 6,100,000 people 
        living with HIV/AIDS and antiretrovirals to 2,100,000 pregnant women to 
        prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS to their babies;
Whereas the United States is the largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis and Malaria;
Whereas, for every dollar contributed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis and Malaria by the United States, an additional $2 is 
        leveraged from other donors;
Whereas the United States hosted the Global Fund's Fourth Voluntary 
        Replenishment Conference on December 2-3, 2013;
Whereas the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), 
        introduced by President George W. Bush in 2003, remains the largest 
        commitment in history by any nation to combat a single disease;
Whereas, as of the end of September 2012, PEPFAR supported treatment for 
        5,100,000 people, up from 1,700,000 in 2008, and in 2012, PEPFAR 
        supported provision of antiretroviral drugs to 750,000 pregnant women 
        living with HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to baby 
        during birth;
Whereas PEPFAR directly supported HIV testing and counseling for more than 
        46,500,000 people in fiscal year 2012;
Whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, with 
        total new HIV infections estimated at 2,300,000 in 2012, a 33-percent 
        reduction since 2001; new HIV infections among children reduced to 
        260,000 in 2012, a reduction of 52 percent since 2001; and AIDS-related 
        deaths reduced to 1,600,000 in 2012, a 30-percent reduction since 2005;
Whereas increased access to antiretroviral drugs is the major contributor to the 
        reduction in deaths from HIV/AIDS, and HIV treatment reinforces 
        prevention because it reduces, by up to 96 percent, the chance the virus 
        can be spread;
Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised its guidelines for 
        determining whether HIV positive individuals are eligible for treatment, 
        thereby increasing the number of individuals eligible for treatment from 
        about 15,000,000 to 28,000,000;
Whereas 9,700,000 people in low- and middle-income countries had access to 
        antiretroviral therapy by the end of 2012, an increase of nearly 20 
        percent in a year;
Whereas an estimated 50 percent of those living with HIV do not know their 
        status, according to a 2012 UNAIDS report;
Whereas sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter of the epidemic, accounting for 
        1,200,000 of the 1,600,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS;
Whereas stigma, gender inequality, and lack of respect for the rights of HIV 
        positive individuals remain significant barriers to access to services 
        for those most at risk of HIV infection;
Whereas President Barack Obama voiced commitment to realizing the promise of an 
        AIDS-free generation and his belief that the goal was within reach in 
        his February 2013 State of the Union Address;
Whereas the international community is united in pursuit of achieving the goal 
        of an AIDS-free generation by 2015;
Whereas international donor funding has held steady since 2008 and countries 
        affected by the epidemic are increasingly taking responsibility for 
        funding and sustaining programs in their countries, currently accounting 
        for approximately 53 percent of global HIV/AIDS resources;
Whereas December 1 of each year is internationally recognized as World AIDS Day; 
        and
Whereas, in 2013, World AIDS Day commemorations focused on: ``[g]etting to zero: 
        zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related 
        deaths'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day, 
        including getting to zero through zero new HIV infections, zero 
        discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths;
            (2) applauds the goals and approaches for achieving an 
        AIDS-free generation set forth in the PEPFAR Blueprint: 
        Creating an AIDS-free Generation, as well as the targets set by 
        United Nations member states in the 2011 United Nations 
        Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS;
            (3) commends the dramatic progress in global AIDS programs 
        supported through the efforts of PEPFAR, the Global Fund to 
        Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and UNAIDS;
            (4) urges, in order to ensure that an AIDS-free generation 
        is within reach, rapid action towards--
                    (A) full implementation of the Global Plan Towards 
                the Elimination of New HIV Infections Among Children by 
                2015 and Keeping Their Mothers Alive to build on 
                progress made to date; and
                    (B) further expansion and scale-up of 
                antiretroviral treatment programs, including efforts to 
                reduce disparities and improve access for children to 
                life-saving medications;
            (5) calls for scaling up treatment to reach all individuals 
        eligible for treatment under WHO guidelines;
            (6) calls for greater focus on HIV/AIDS vulnerabilities of 
        women and girls, including more directed efforts to ensure that 
        they are connected to the information, care, and treatment they 
        require;
            (7) supports efforts to ensure inclusive access to programs 
        and human rights protections for all those most at risk of HIV/
        AIDS and hardest to reach;
            (8) encourages additional private-public partnerships to 
        research and develop better and more affordable tools for the 
        diagnosis, treatment, vaccination, and cure of HIV;
            (9) supports continued leadership by the United States in 
        bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts to fight 
        HIV;
            (10) encourages and supports greater degrees of ownership 
        and shared responsibility by developing countries in order to 
        ensure sustainability of their domestic responses; and
            (11) encourages other members of the international 
        community to sustain and scale up their support for and 
        financial contributions to efforts around the world to combat 
        HIV/AIDS.
                                 <all>