Res. No. 91
Resolution calling upon the President of the United States and Congress to develop a comprehensive national approach to combating HIV/AIDS, including prevention, education and treatment strategies.
By Council Members Dickens, Chin, Comrie, Dromm, Fidler, Palma, Van Bramer, Vann, Rodriguez and Nelson
Whereas, According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in 2006, more than 40% higher than its previous estimate of 40,000; and
Whereas, The CDC made this more accurate estimate by using a new methodology that distinguishes between recent and long-standing HIV infections, and this new technique represents the first national surveillance system of its kind based on direct measurement of new HIV infections; and
Whereas, According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, more than 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV and New York City has the highest AIDS case rate in the country; and
Whereas, The findings using the new methodology are alarming because they show that the AIDS epidemic is worse than officials originally thought; and
Whereas, Domestically, the United States has spent more than $74 billion on treatment and care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and more than $15 billion in research from 2001 to 2006, according to the White House; and
Whereas, In 2003, President Bush launched the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to combat global HIV/AIDS, which represented the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history; and
Whereas, The goal of the emergency plan is to support worldwide integrated prevention, treatment and care programs through a multi-sector response in host nations under the principles known as the "Three Ones," which require nations to create one national plan, one national coordinating authority and one national monitoring and evaluation system; and
Whereas, PEPFAR was reauthorized on July 30, 2008, and will commit the United States to spend up to $48 billion to combat worldwide HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria through 2013; and
Whereas, PEPFAR has a goal to provide treatment for at least 3 million people, prevent 12 million new infections and care for 12 million people over five years by expanding health care systems, training new workers and providing life-saving antiretroviral treatment; and
Whereas, Participating international countries are required to have a national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS before they can receive any PEPFAR funding; and
Whereas, Despite this requirement in PEPFAR, the United States itself does not have a national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS domestically and, adding to the confusion, there are ten separate federal agencies that service individuals living with HIV/AIDS; and
Whereas, In August 2008, over 30 national HIV/AIDS organizations representing African American, Latino, Native American/Alaskan Native and Asian Pacific Islander communities, came together in an unprecedented manner and called for the United States to develop and implement a national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS; and
Whereas, One of the leading organizations was the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), a major HIV/AIDS advocacy and coordinating organization established in 1987, who have long advocated for targeted HIV research, treatment access, medical care and prevention for communities of color; and
Whereas, NBLCA has highlighted the disparities in HIV/AIDS amongst minority groups, underscored by the new CDC report which estimates that communities of color account for 65% of the new HIV infections occurring in the United States in 2006 using the new methodology; and
Whereas, The United States should adopt a national strategy that could establish goals and timetables, as well as coordinate needed resources to the most needy areas and groups; and
Whereas, The White House Office of National AIDS Policy and the Office of Public Health and Science at the United States Department of Health and Human Services recently convened an interagency working group to help develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the President of the United States and Congress to develop a comprehensive national approach to combating HIV/AIDS, including prevention, education and treatment strategies.
Res. 1594/2008
JM
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