[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 93 (Thursday, July 11, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H4531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  GLOBAL HIV, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be here 
tonight, and I want to especially thank my good friend, the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Lee) and applaud her for her work in bringing us 
together here tonight to talk about the HIV pandemic. We have all been 
closely following the happenings this week at the 14th International 
AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, and although it is exciting to 
hear about the new research breakthroughs and findings, it is also 
disheartening to hear about the sheer number of people who are infected 
and affected by this disease throughout the world.
  More than 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide, and nearly 
5 million of those people were diagnosed with HIV just last year alone. 
Ninety-six percent of those people living with HIV reside in developing 
countries, Third World countries and, for example, 1.5 million children 
and adults in Latin America alone are living with HIV. About 130,000 of 
these were diagnosed just last year.
  Unfortunately, many HIV-positive individuals do not even know they 
have the deadly disease. We still have a long way to go to raise 
awareness about the disease and to ensure that Nations have the 
resources to implement proven prevention and treatment programs. We 
must do more to help our global neighbors combat this deadly disease.
  UNAIDS has estimated that between $7 billion and $10 billion is 
needed each year to effectively respond to the global HIV/AIDS 
epidemic, but during this last fiscal year, the United States only 
contributed an estimated $1 billion to HIV and AIDS research. This 
includes a $200 million of contribution to the Global Fund to Fight 
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and I think that is great, but we can 
do a lot better.
  It is important to note that aid for global HIV effort is more than a 
moral responsibility. It is an economic and political necessity. 
Countries with AIDS face economic and social threats as governments 
struggle with the burden of trying to pay for HIV treatment and 
prevention, and often the populations most affected by HIV are the key 
to the economic stability of these nations.
  As an example, these people are the ones between the age of 15 and 24 
years old. They represent 42 percent of the newest HIV infections and 
make up about one-third of the global total of people living with AIDS. 
When these people face the threat of AIDS, their families and 
communities are devastated and, of course, HIV also has a particularly 
devastating impact on the youngest of our global population.
  Worldwide, an estimated 14 million children under the age of 15 have 
lost one or both parents from AIDS. The stories of children who are 
orphaned by AIDS are heartbreaking to all of us. We cannot afford to 
ignore the AIDS crisis. We must commit ourselves to doing more, and I 
hope that this Congress can make that commitment, and I certainly urge 
and strongly urge the President of the United States to do the same.

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