[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 27 (Friday, March 11, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 INTRODUCTION OF A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO NAME THE WEEK OF MAY 29 THROUGH 
   JUNE 4, 1994, AS ``PEDIATRIC AND ADOLESCENT AIDS AWARENESS WEEK''

                                 ______


                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 10, 1994

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to lend 
their unwavering support to the tens of thousands of children, 
adolescents, and women infected with and affected by HIV infection and 
AIDs in the United States.
  Please join me in calling upon the President to proclaim the week on 
May 29, through June 4, 1994, as ``Pediatric and Adolescent AIDS 
Awareness Week''.
  The HIV epidemic is spreading rapidly among women, children, and 
adolescents. Over 5,000 children, over 14,000 young people ages 13-24, 
and approximately 40,700 adult women have been diagnosed with AIDS.
  Unfortunately, the need for effective HIV care is even greater than 
these statistics might suggest. Since AIDS-defining symptoms appear an 
average of ten years after infection with HIV, AIDS statistics allow us 
to estimate the needs of people who are at just one end of the 
continuum of those living with HIV disease.
  Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 children, an unknown number of 
adolescents 110,000 women, and over 1 million men are estimated to be 
HIV-infected but are not yet diagnosed with AIDS. Using 1989 sero-
survey data for childbearing women, the CDC estimates that 6,000 HIV 
infected women will give birth to children each year; approximately 
1,500 to 2,000 of whom will also be HIV-infected.
  Today over 19 percent of the reported AIDS cases in the United States 
are among young adults in the 20 to 29 age range, suggesting that a 
majority were infected with HIV during their adolescent years.
  HIV disproportionately affects low-income African-Americans and 
Latinos. Fifty-four percent of the reported children with AIDS are 
African-American, although only 14 percent of the nation's children are 
African-American. In addition, 24 percent of the children with AIDS are 
Latino, although only 11 percent of the United States are Latino.
  My congressional district of the South Bronx, has the highest rate of 
sero-prevalence among newborns in the entire country. Twenty-four 
percent of all pediatric AIDS cases in the United States are reported 
in New York City; and 30 percent of these are in my district. The 
health experts in New York City estimate that 110 HIV-infected children 
are born in the Bronx each year.
  If the incidence of AIDS continues to increase, within the next 10 
years AIDS may become the fifth leading cause of death among children 
of all ages in the United States.
  Equally dire are the projections of the number of children that will 
be orphaned as a result of the HIV-AIDS epidemic--24,600 under age 13, 
and 21,000 between the ages of 13 and 17 by 1995. With the current 
trends, the total number of children orphaned by AIDS is estimated to 
reach over 85,000 by the year 2000.
  If my colleagues have not heard much about these powder kegs, it's 
because these children and families have no lobbying machines to 
advocate for their needs here in Congress. They deserve your commitment 
and compassion, as do the million and more others in this country 
living with HIV-AIDS.
  Mr. Speaker, I am particularly concerned with providing access to 
care for these vulnerable populations. Last year, I led an effort to 
consolidate funding for pediatric, adolescent, and women HIV services 
in title IV of the CARE Act. This important program takes care of the 
majority of identified children and adolescents with HIV infection.
  In 1990 I introduced the first resolution calling upon Congress to 
recognize and respond to pediatric AIDS, it became Public Law 102-57. 
This disease makes no distinctions between race, gender, age, nor 
ideology. In the other body, Senator Arlen Specter has agreed to 
sponsor a matching resolution.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the isle to support this 
resolution, because we must fight this disease from all angles.

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