119-sres171

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 171 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 171

Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness 
 Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 April 10, 2025

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Wyden) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

Supporting the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness 
 Day''.

Whereas ``National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day'' is a nationwide observance 
 that calls on people to take action to invest in the health, education, 
 and leadership of young people;
Whereas, more than 40 years into the epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control 
 and Prevention estimates that in the United States more than 1,189,700 
 people are living with HIV, and 30,635 people were diagnosed with HIV in 
 the United States in 2020;
Whereas, in 2020, youth aged 13 to 24 years composed 20 percent of all new HIV 
 diagnoses in the United States;
Whereas young people living with HIV are the least likely of any age group to be 
 retained in care and have a suppressed viral load;
Whereas 56 percent of young people aged 13 to 24 living with HIV are unaware of 
 their HIV status;
Whereas African-American youth are most impacted by the HIV epidemic, 
 representing 54 percent of new transmissions in young people aged 13 to 
 24;
Whereas young African-American gay and bisexual men are even more severely 
 affected, representing 53 percent (2,740) of new HIV diagnoses among 
 young gay and bisexual men;
Whereas, in 2020, young gay and bisexual men accounted for 84 percent (5,161) of 
 all new HIV diagnoses in young people aged 13 to 24;
Whereas the National HIV/AIDS Strategy explains the fact that youth experience 
 worse HIV outcomes regarding status awareness, pre-exposure prophylaxis 
 uptake, and health outcomes;
Whereas the National HIV/AIDS Strategy recommends children and young adults with 
 HIV receive tailored and often more intensive medical and support 
 services to support them as they grow and become young adults;
Whereas the Division of Adolescent and School Health within the Centers for 
 Disease Control and Prevention is the only Federal program supporting 
 HIV prevention for adolescents in schools;
Whereas the largest Federal program dedicated to providing care and treatment 
 for people living with HIV was named after Ryan White, a teenager from 
 Indiana who helped educate the United States about HIV and AIDS in the 
 1980s;
Whereas the grant program under part D of title XXVI of the Public Health 
 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300-71 et seq.; commonly referred to as the 
 ``Ryan White Part D Program'') is one of the national efforts to link 
 young people living with HIV to medical care and support services;
Whereas the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) 
 provides youth, including those living with or impacted by HIV and AIDS, 
 with better access to health care coverage, more health insurance 
 options, additional funding for sex education, and expanded access to 
 Medicaid and prohibits denying people living with HIV access to health 
 care, all of which ensures that more young people living with HIV will 
 receive care; and
Whereas April 10 of each year is now recognized as ``National Youth HIV/AIDS 
 Awareness Day'': Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Youth HIV/
 AIDS Awareness Day'';

    (2) encourages State and local governments, including their 
 public health agencies, education agencies, schools, and media 
 organizations to recognize and support such a day;

    (3) supports the rights of young people impacted by HIV and 
 AIDS to education, prevention, treatment, and care, and to live 
 without criminalization, discrimination, oppression, or stigma;

    (4) promotes up-to-date, inclusive, culturally responsible, 
 and medically accurate information about HIV, such as 
 information regarding pre-exposure prophylaxis (commonly 
 referred to as ``PreP)'', in sex education curricula to ensure 
 that all young people are educated about HIV, as called for in 
 the National HIV/AIDS Strategy;

    (5) supports removal of HIV laws that are scientifically 
 inaccurate and unfairly criminalize young people living with 
 HIV for behaviors that are consensual or have no risk of 
 transmission;

    (6) urges youth-friendly and accessible health care 
 services, especially access to medications such as PreP, post-
 exposure prophylaxis, and antiretroviral therapy without 
 parental consent, to better provide for the early 
 identification of HIV through voluntary routine testing, and to 
 connect those in need to clinically and culturally appropriate 
 care and treatment as early as possible;

    (7) supports increasing funding for programs that support 
 people impacted by and living with HIV, including the Centers 
 for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and 
 School Health, Division of STD Prevention, and Division of HIV 
 Prevention, the program under title XXVI of the Public Health 
 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300ff-11 et seq.; commonly referred to 
 as the ``Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program''), the Medicaid program, 
 AIDS drug assistance programs, and programs that support 
 medical mentorship, peer navigation, the education of 
 communities regarding testing and treatment options, and people 
 accessing PrEP, and ensure a smoother transition to adult HIV 
 care;

    (8) recommends a comprehensive prevention and treatment 
 strategy that empowers young people, parents, public health 
 workers, educators, faith leaders, and other stakeholders to 
 fully engage with their communities and families to help 
 decrease violence, discrimination, and stigma toward 
 individuals who disclose their sexual orientation or HIV 
 status;

    (9) calls for a generation free of HIV stigma in a manner 
 that prioritizes youth leadership and development in order to 
 ensure youth involvement in decisions which impact their health 
 and well-being as well as advance a pipeline for the next 
 generation of HIV and AIDS doctors, advocates, educators, 
 researchers, and other professionals; and

    (10) recognizes the direct impact from harmful legislative 
 efforts seeking to restrict bodily autonomy for young people, 
 such as restrictions on abortion and birth control access and 
 bans on transgender health care, which negatively impact youth 
 access to nonstigmatizing HIV prevention, education, and 
 confidential testing and treatment, and increase risk for 
 criminalization.
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