HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

AIDS IN AFRICA AND AROUND THE WORLD

WHEREAS, the 1999 annual report of the United Nations Children’s Fund states that 14 million persons worldwide have died as a result of HIV/AIDS and 11 million of them were from the nations of Africa, and the World Health Organization reports that 33 million individuals worldwide are currently infected with HIV and that 22.5 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and nearly all of them will die within the next two decades, another report states that nearly 1 million children in Africa are living with HIV/AIDS; and

WHEREAS, Congress is considering legislation introduced last month by Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald of California that would emphasize prevention programs, commit U. S. funding in the range of $150 million to $200 million per year to the programs, and work with the governments and non-government organizations working in the countries affected to deliver programs; and

WHEREAS, the legislation would create city-to-city collaborative exchanges between United States municipal HIV/AIDS programs and cities in highly impacted countries in order to share experiences and build local capacity to respond to the disease, foster opportunities for local economic development and international trade, prevent and educate so as to maintain the workforce in impacted countries, and assist research and development of vaccines and programs to deliver them effectively, and promote early diagnosis and treatment,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors supports the legislation known as H.R. 4140 and urges its swift passage by the U. S. Congress and swift appropriation of U.S. funds to put the program in place, and notifies all members of the House and Senate via this resolution of its strong support, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the member mayors of The United States Conference of Mayors agree to participate to the fullest extent possible in the city-to-city exchange programs that result from implementation of this legislation.