To express the sense of the Senate concerning the care and treatment of children with HIV/AIDS.

1. Adds SEC. __. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING CHILDREN WITH HIV/ AIDS wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. __. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING CHILDREN WITH HIV/ AIDS.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) Approximately 2,200,000 million children under the age of 15 are infected with the HIV virus, and 1,900 children worldwide are infected with HIV each day.

   Inserted: (2) In 2004, it was estimated that of the 4,900,000 people newly infected with HIV, 640,000 were children. The vast majority of them were infected through mother-to-child transmission, which includes transmission at any point during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or breastfeeding.

   Inserted: (3) Effective implementation of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and care and treatment services in the United States has resulted in the near elimination (less than 2 percent transmission) of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. By contrast, in resource-poor settings less than 10 percent of pregnant women living with HIV have access to services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

   Inserted: (4) Currently, more than 4,000,000 children worldwide are estimated to have died from AIDS.

   Inserted: (5) In 2004, approximately 510,000 children died of AIDS, resulting in almost 1,400 AIDS deaths in children per day.

   Inserted: (6) According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS, if current trends continue by 2010, 3,500,000 of the 45,000,000 people infected worldwide will be children under the age of 15.

   Inserted: (7) At least a quarter of newborns infected with HIV die before the age of one, up to 60 percent die before reaching their second birthday, and overall, most die before they are 5 years of age.

   Inserted: (8) HIV threatens to reverse the child survival and developmental gains of past decades.

   Inserted: (9) Research and practice have shown conclusively that timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy to infants or young children with HIV/AIDS can preserve or restore their immune functions, promote normal growth and development, and prolong life.

   Inserted: (10) There is clear evidence in resource-rich countries that antiretroviral treatment in children is very effective. For example, many children who were infected through mother-to-child transmission in the United States are living with HIV as young adults.

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   Inserted: (11) Few programs specifically target the treatment of children with HIV/AIDS in resource-poor countries due to significant challenges in diagnosing and treating infants and young children with HIV. Such challenges include difficulty in diagnosing HIV in infants less than 18 months of age, lack of appropriate and affordable pediatric HIV/AIDS medicines, and lack of trained health care providers.

   Inserted: (12) Children are not small adults and treating them as such can seriously jeopardize their health.

   Inserted: (13) Children should not be forgotten in the fight against the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that this resolution assumes that--

   Inserted: (1)(A) assistance should be provided to support the expansion of programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV as an integral component of a comprehensive approach to fighting HIV/AIDS;

   Inserted: (B) to facilitate the expansion described in subparagraph (A)--

   Inserted: (i) more resources are needed for infrastructure improvements and education and training of health care workers; and

   Inserted: (ii) better linkages between mother-to-child transmission and broader care and treatment programs should be created for women, children, and families who are in need of access to expanded services;

   Inserted: (2) assistance should be provided to support the care and treatment of children with HIV/AIDS, including the development and purchase of high-quality, low-cost pediatric formulations of antiretroviral drugs and other HIV/AIDS medicines, including fixed-dose combinations, pediatric-specific training to doctors and other health-care personnel, and the purchase of pediatric-appropriate technologies;

   Inserted: (3) all antiretroviral drugs need precise and simplified dosing guidelines for all pediatric age groups, including infants, and all HIV/AIDS drugs including those developed for children should be made available at drastically-reduced prices in resource-poor countries;

   Inserted: (4) health care sites in resource-poor countries need better diagnostic capacity and appropriate supplies to provide care and treatment services for children, and additional training is required to ensure that all health care providers can administer specialized care services for children, including psychosocial support; and

   Inserted: (5) pediatric care and treatment should be integrated into the existing health care framework so children and families can be treated simultaneously.

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