[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 19, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5779-S5780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. Frist):
  S. 2649. A bill to provide assistance to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic 
in developing foreign countries; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Frist in 
introducing this important legislation to help in the international 
battle against the AIDS pandemic. AIDS is the fourth leading cause of 
death in the world. This disease ends lives, destroy families, 
undermines economies, and threatens the stability and progress of 
entire nations.
  We in America know the pain and loss that this disease cruelly 
inflicts. Millions of our fellow citizens, men, women, and children, 
are inflected with HIV/AIDS, and far too many have lost their lives.
  While we still seek a cure to AIDS, we have learned to help those 
infected by the virus to lead long and productive lives through the 
miracle of prescription drugs.
  But this disease knows no boundaries. It travels across borders to 
infect innocent people in every continent across the globe.
  We have an obligation to continue the fight against this disease at 
home. But we should also share what we have learned to help those in 
other countries in this life-and-death battle. And we must do all we 
can to provide new resources to help those who cannot afford today's 
therapies.
  We must carry the fight against AIDS to every corner of the globe, 
and the legislation that I am introducing with Senator Frist today is a 
step in that direction.
  The International AIDS Treatment and Prevention Act provides new 
legal authority and funding to our Nation's strongest health care 
agencies to join the global battle against AIDS. It promotes models of 
community-based care that reach the real people affected by this 
disease; better access to the research and therapies needed to prevent 
transmission of this deadly disease; and most importantly, funds 
research and treatment models to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS from 
mothers to their infants including the family support services 
necessary to stem the orphan crisis.
  Governments can make the difference in battling this epidemic. When 
governments in poor countries have been provided resources to fight the 
spread of AIDS, infection rates have dropped 80 percent. With this 
legislation, the United States will do its part to support countries to 
turn the corner of AIDS on their own.
  I am pleased that the administration is increasing funding for the 
fight against the global AIDS epidemic, and together with this 
legislation, we can truly lead the international community in the fight 
against the greatest public health threat of our times.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Kennedy today 
to introduce the International AIDS Treatment and Prevention Act. This 
legislation is another important bipartisan step in our global battle 
against AIDS and other infectious diseases. The international crisis of 
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria threatens the entire world. We have 
done much here at home through Ryan White and other programs. We must 
show we can lead the world against these scourges as well. This 
morning, President Bush again underscored this administration's 
commitment, and his personal commitment, to reducing the spread of

[[Page S5780]]

HIV/AIDS and demonstrating consistent, compassionate U.S. leadership in 
this global struggle.
  When I first came to the Senate eight years ago, HIV/AIDS was a 
little understood or recognized problem. In that time I have traveled 
far from the Senate floor. I have been on seven different medical 
mission trips to Africa, most recently, in January, to Uganda, Kenya 
and Tanzania.
  The trips have helped reveal to me the impact that one single virus--
HIV--is having on the destruction of a continent. Not a family. Not a 
community. Not a State. Not a country. An entire continent.
  The statistics of this plague are shocking. Each year, three million 
people die of AIDS, one every ten seconds. Twice that many, 5.5 
million--or two every ten seconds--become infected. That is 15,000 
people a day. Even more tragically, 6,000 of those infected each day 
are between the ages of 15 and 24. Ninety percent of those infected do 
not know they have the disease. There is no cure. There is no vaccine. 
And the number of people infected is growing dramatically.
  The disease toll is incalculable. Thirteen million children have been 
orphaned by AIDS. Over the next ten years, the orphan population may 
well grow to 40 million equivalent to the number of American children 
living east of the Mississippi River. I had the privilege of visiting 
with Tabu, a 28-year-old prostitute, who was leaving Arusha to return 
to her village to die. She stayed an extra day to meet with us. I will 
never forget her cheerful demeanor and mischievous smile as we met in 
her small stick-framed mud hut, no more than 12 feet by 12 feet. Her 
two sisters are also infected; a third sister has already died. Tabu 
will leave behind an eleven-year-old daughter, Adija.
  Not only do HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria produce over 50 
percent of the deaths due to infectious diseases each year, they have 
complex disease patterns that result in facilitating each other's 
spread. By weakening the immune system, infection with HIV increases 
susceptibility to both tuberculosis and malaria. Furthermore, the 
increasing number of multi-resistant tuberculosis cases is largely 
attributed to resistance developed in HIV-infected patients. Finally, 
in treating severe anemia that commonly accompanies illness due to 
malaria, untested blood transfusions create a method of HIV/AIDS 
spread.
  At home in Tennessee, or even here in Washington, DC, Uganda and 
Tanzania feel very far away. But the plague of HIV/AIDS and the chaos, 
despair and civil disorder it perpetrates only undermines the chance 
for democracy to flourish. Without civil institutions, there is 
disorder.
  Last year in South Africa, one of every 200 teachers died of AIDS. In 
a recent study in Kenya, 75 percent of deaths on the police force were 
AIDS-related. HIV-related deaths among hospital workers in Zambia have 
increased 13 fold in the last decade. These losses devastate local 
economies. Botswana's economy will shrink by 30 percent in ten years; 
Kenya's by 15 percent. Family incomes in the Ivory Coast have declined 
by 50 percent, while health care expenditures have risen by 4000 
percent.
  Africa has lost an entire generation. In Nairobi, Kenya, I visited 
the Kibera slum. With a population of over 750,000, one out of five of 
those who live in Kibera are HIV/AIDS positive. As I walked the crowded 
pathways sandwiched between hundreds of thousands of aluminum shanties, 
I was amazed that there were only children or elderly individuals. The 
disease had wiped out the parents the most productive segment of the 
population teachers, military personnel, hospital workers, and law 
enforcement officers. African orphans therefore lack teachers, role 
models and leaders. This leaves them vulnerable to criminal 
organizations, revolutionary militias, and terrorists. Terrorism and 
crime could become a way of life for a young generation.
  Africa is not alone. India, with over 4 million cases of HIV/AIDS, is 
on the edge of explosive growth. China is estimated to have as many as 
10 million infected persons. The Caribbean suffers from one of the 
highest rates of infection of any region in the world. Eastern Europe 
and Russia report the fastest growth of AIDS cases. These nations are 
the next generation in the AIDS crisis they present an opportunity for 
intervention and success if we act quickly and decisively.
  Due to the social, economic and political destructive effects of this 
disease, I'm devoting much of my time to this issue, and in particular, 
to the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Just as our great nation is the 
leader in the war on terrorism, we must continue to lead the fight 
against AIDS in order to build a better, safer world.
  There is perhaps no greater global issue than the spread of deadly 
infectious disease. As President Bush said today, the United States 
must lead the fight in this international crises. We must now provide 
the leadership to confront the global HIV/AIDS, malaria, and 
tuberculosis epidemics. History will record how we respond to the call.
  We fight this battle in two ways: by improving primary prevention and 
expanding access to treatment. Until science produces a vaccine, 
prevention through behavioral change and awareness is the key. And once 
again, cultural stigmas must be overcome. Through a combination of 
comprehensive national plans, donor support and community-based 
organizations, we can make progress. We know that prevention and 
treatment go hand and hand, and that the necessary infrastructure must 
be present in order to delivery care.
  I have already introduced legislation with Senator Kerry--the U.S. 
Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2002. 
This act would direct the President to work with foreign governments, 
the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, and the private sector to 
establish the Global AIDS and Health Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, 
and tuberculosis. This fund would provide grants to governments and 
non-governmental organizations for implementation of effective and 
affordable HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis programs. Additionally, 
this legislation requires a comprehensive American strategy for 
combating these infectious diseases, enhances programs targeted toward 
empowering women, links debt relief to implementation of health 
programs, extends military to military prevention activities and 
establishes an incentive program for American clinicians to provide 
their expertise abroad.
  The legislation I am introducing today with Senator Kennedy and 
others is a companion to the Foreign Relations bill. This bill codifies 
and expands current authorities of the Department of Health and Human 
Services, HHS, to participate in appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention, 
treatment, care, and support activities in resource poor nations that 
are experiencing an HIV/AIDS crisis. Coupled with S. 2525, the United 
States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 
2002, this legislation would provide a better coordinated, enhanced 
U.S. response to the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
  Under The International AIDS Treatment and Prevention Act of 2002, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to implement 
HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria prevention, treatment, care and support 
services principally through the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention and, where appropriate, with the assistance and technical 
expertise of the Health Resources and Services Administration, (HRSA) 
the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health 
(NIH). The Secretary is also granted the authority to alter or renovate 
facilities in foreign countries as is necessary to conduct programs for 
international health activities and to establish family survival 
partnership grants for the provision of medical care and support to HIV 
positive parents and their children.
  This legislation, coupled with the S. 2525, represents an important 
step forward in our response to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. 
History will judge how we as a nation--how we as a global community--
address and respond to this most devastating and destructive public 
health crisis we have seen since the bubonic plague ravaged Europe over 
600 years ago.
  The task looms large, but by uniting with leadership and dedication 
from all--we will succeed in counteracting the devastation of HIV/AIDS 
and stop its advance.




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