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