[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11674]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            WELCOMING THE XIX INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 18, 2012

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my distinguished colleagues 
in welcoming the delegates and participants for the nineteenth annual 
International AIDS Conference, which will convene here in Washington 
from July 22nd to 27th. This is the first time that the conference has 
been held in the United States since 1985--a return made possible by 
our bipartisan efforts to remove travel and immigration restrictions 
against persons infected with HIV.
  This international conference is important not just because of the 
issues it will highlight and the people it will bring together, but 
because of the scientific and informational exchange it will make 
possible. AIDS 2012, as it has been billed, is recognized as the 
premier gathering for individuals working in the HIV/AIDS field, as 
well as policymakers, advocates, care providers, people living with 
HIV/AIDS, and others committed to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It 
offers a unique opportunity to change the course of the epidemic by 
capitalizing on scientific advances in treatment and prevention, 
building consensus to improve service delivery and maximize outcomes, 
facilitating global civil society engagement, and accelerating momentum 
toward a cure.
  Even today, the magnitude of the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS is 
difficult to fathom. Despite the fact that the disease is easily 
preventable and treatable, almost 2 million people die each year from 
AIDS-related causes. At last count an estimated 34 million people were 
living with HIV/AIDS, including 3.4 million children. Sub-Saharan 
Africa continues to bear the brunt of the disease, accounting for 68 
percent of those living with HIV/AIDS -- 59 percent of whom are women. 
Here in the United States, as many as 1 in 5 individuals living with 
HIV/AIDS is unaware of being infected, and significant disparities 
persist across different communities and populations with regard to 
incidence of infection, access to treatment, and health outcomes. Our 
nation's capital has an HIV prevalence rate of nearly 3 percent, which 
is comparable to the rate in many parts of the developing world.
  The enormity of the challenge calls for a sustained, coordinated and 
robust response. In 2003, President George W. Bush launched the 
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, which 
received bipartisan support in Congress. It represents the largest 
commitment by any nation to combat a single disease and has saved the 
lives of millions of people around the world by establishing and 
expanding the infrastructure necessary to deliver prevention, care, and 
treatment services in low-resource settings. In 2008, I worked with my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to enact the Tom Lantos and Henry 
J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis 
and Malaria Reauthorization Act. That bill, which passed the House by 
an overwhelming margin of 308 to 116, authorized up to $48 billion over 
5 years to combat those three diseases. The authorization will expire 
next year, and it's time for us to renew the same spirit of bipartisan 
cooperation that led to this record of success.
  With the help of PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world has seen truly remarkable advances 
in AIDS research, prevention and treatment over the past decade. What 
was once seen as a death sentence is now, for those with access to 
treatment, a manageable illness, and large numbers of people in even 
the poorest countries are receiving treatment that once seemed out of 
reach. By the end of 2011, the Global Fund alone had supported anti-
retroviral treatment for 3.3 million HIV-positive people, anti-
tuberculosis treatment for 8.6 million, and 230 million insecticide-
treated nets for the prevention of malaria, in all saving about 7.7 
million lives. Recently the Fund has begun making comprehensive reforms 
to its structure and program to ensure that funds are spent in the most 
efficient, effective and accountable way.
  President Obama has articulated a global vision of an AIDS-free 
generation, which means virtual elimination of new pediatric HIV 
infections by 2015, as well as a domestic goal of cutting new 
infections in the United States by 25% by 2015. As the eyes of the 
world are turned on our nation for the conference, we have an 
opportunity to step up to the plate and endorse these goals, not just 
in principle but also by making a commitment to provide the resources 
that are necessary to achieve it. We can't do it all by ourselves--each 
country needs to do its part, with the help of the private sector and 
civil society organizations--but neither can it happen without us.

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