Introduced in Senate — S.Res. 171

III

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. RES. 171

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

Sec.

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.