Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus Signals Effort to Treat More HIV-Positives Globally

Fifty-nine US lawmakers on Thursday formally launched the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, a bipartisan group pledging support for research and prevention both domestically and abroad. One of its goals is to support expanding the number of people treated through the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to 6 million worldwide by 2013.

"This is the launch time for a bold movement to stamp HIV and AIDS, for once and for all, off the face of the earth," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who was joined at the news conference by Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), and HIV/AIDS experts and advocates.

"I remember when having AIDS was a death sentence," McDermott said. "Believe me, there will be people looking at the AIDS budget [who will say] 'Why are we putting money into that?'[during this] fiscal crisis."

"My two top priorities as co-chair of the HIV/AIDS Caucus are to better enable faith-based organizations to implement life-saving medical services and to make significant strides so no child is born with HIV after 2015," said Franks, who described himself as one of the most fiscally conservative members of the House. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to bring attention to this important humanitarian issue."

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