[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 398 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 398
Expressing the sense of the Senate on promoting initiatives to develop
an HIV vaccine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 6, 2004
Mr. Lugar submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate on promoting initiatives to develop
an HIV vaccine.
Whereas more than 20,000,000 people have died of the acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (hereinafter referred to as ``AIDS'') between 1984 and 2004;
Whereas AIDS claimed the lives of more than 3,000,000 people in 2003, and nearly
8,500 people die each day from AIDS;
Whereas an estimated 40,000,000 people around the world are living with the
human immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter referred to as ``HIV'') or
AIDS;
Whereas an estimated 14,000 people become infected with HIV every day;
Whereas there will be 45,000,000 new infections by 2010 and nearly 70,000,000
deaths by 2020;
Whereas an estimated 14,000,000 children have lost 1 or both parents to AIDS,
and this number is expected to increase to 25,000,000 by 2010;
Whereas a child loses a parent to AIDS every 14 seconds;
Whereas more than 90 percent of the people infected with HIV live in the
developing world;
Whereas more than 70 percent of the people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan
Africa;
Whereas communities and countries are struggling with the devastating human and
economic toll that HIV and AIDS has taken on them;
Whereas the HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens political and regional stability and has
contributed to broader economic and social problems, including food
insecurity, labor shortages, and the orphaning of generations of
children;
Whereas the United States is leading global efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS
pandemic through its $15,000,000,000 Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and
its commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria;
Whereas, through the World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, the international community is cooperating
multilaterally to combat HIV/AIDS;
Whereas developing an HIV vaccine is especially challenging due to the
complicated nature of the virus;
Whereas many biotechnology companies have not invested in the development of HIV
vaccines;
Whereas during 2001-2002, only 7 HIV vaccine candidates entered clinical trials,
and only 1 of those candidates entered advanced human testing, but it
proved ineffective;
Whereas the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has been a very
effective and positive force in the development of an HIV vaccine and
has been instrumental in laying the groundwork for developing an HIV
vaccine;
Whereas the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and
other public and private organizations are pursuing a variety of
initiatives to develop an HIV vaccine, including establishing BIO
Ventures for Global Health to help small biotechnology companies address
the problems they confront in developing new medical products for poor
countries;
Whereas the members of the Group of Eight (Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) met in Sea
Island, Georgia in June 2004 and reaffirmed their commitment to combat
the global HIV/AIDS pandemic by accelerating and coordinating efforts to
develop an HIV vaccine;
Whereas at the meeting in Sea Island, Georgia, the President encouraged the
Group of Eight to endorse the establishment of a Global HIV Vaccine
Enterprise, a virtual consortium to accelerate HIV vaccine development
by enhancing coordination, information sharing, and collaboration
globally;
Whereas the United States currently has an HIV vaccine research and development
center at the National Institutes of Health, and the President announced
plans to establish a second HIV vaccine research and development center
in the United States; and
Whereas an HIV vaccine has the potential to prevent new HIV and AIDS cases,
which would save millions of lives and dramatically reduce the negative
economic consequences of HIV and AIDS: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN HIV VACCINE.
It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the President should seek to build on the initiative of
the members of the Group of Eight (Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United
States) to develop a vaccine to curtail the spread of the human
immunodeficiency virus (hereinafter referred to as ``HIV'') and
should mobilize necessary economic and scientific support to
establish a Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, as described in
section 2;
(2) the President should continue to urge the members of
the Group of Eight and other countries to garner support from
their own economic, scientific, and philanthropic communities
for the development of an HIV vaccine;
(3) the President should establish a second vaccine
research and development center in the United States, as he
announced in June 2004;
(4) the members of the Group of Eight should follow-up the
June 2004 meeting in Sea Island, Georgia with official and
private meetings, conferences, and other events to further
explore and implement initiatives concerning the Global HIV
Vaccine Enterprise;
(5) the members of the Group of Eight should leverage
financial contributions from the international philanthropic
community to provide funding, including funding to the private
sector, to promote the development of an HIV vaccine;
(6) the members of the Group of Eight should include the
scientific and political leadership of those countries most
affected by the pandemic of HIV and the acquired immune
deficiency syndrome (hereinafter referred to as ``AIDS''); and
(7) the members of the Group of Eight should develop a
specific plan for furthering its efforts towards this goal by
the June 2005 meeting in the United Kingdom.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING A GLOBAL HIV VACCINE ENTERPRISE.
The Senate urges the President to continue the efforts of the
United States to generate global support for the establishment of a
Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise by carrying out an initiative that--
(1) is in coordination and partnership with the members of
the Group of Eight, the private sector, and other countries,
especially those most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic;
(2) encourages the members of the Group of Eight to act
swiftly to mobilize money and resources to make the
establishment of a Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise a reality;
(3) includes a strategic plan to prioritize the scientific
and other challenges to be addressed, to coordinate research
and product development efforts, and to encourage greater use
of information-sharing networks and technologies;
(4) encourages the establishment of a number of coordinated
global HIV vaccine development centers that would have the
critical mass and scientific expertise necessary to advance the
development of an HIV vaccine; and
(5) increases cooperation, communication, and sharing of
information on issues related to HIV and AIDS among regulatory
authorities in various countries.
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