22 U.S.C. § 6801 — Definitions

Page 1858 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 6801 Sec. PART C—UNITED STATES FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION 6841. Authorization of appropriations. 6842. Certification requirement. § 6801. Definitions In this chapter: (1) AIDS The term ‘‘AIDS’’ means the acquired im- mune deficiency syndrome. (2) Association The term ‘‘Association’’ means the Inter- national Development Association. (3) Bank The term ‘‘Bank’’ or ‘‘World Bank’’ means the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (4) HIV The term ‘‘HIV’’ means the human immuno- deficiency virus, the pathogen which causes AIDS. (5) HIV/AIDS The term ‘‘HIV/AIDS’’ means, with respect to an individual, an individual who is infected with HIV or living with AIDS. (Pub. L. 106–264, title I, § 102, Aug. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 749.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original ‘‘this title’’, meaning title I of Pub. L. 106–264, Aug. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 748, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of title I to the Code, see Short Title note set out below and Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 106–264, § 1, Aug. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 748, pro- vided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting this chapter, amending sections 2151b, 2222, 2293, 2367 and 2395 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and sections 2151 and 2151b of this title] may be cited as the ‘Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000’.’’ Pub. L. 106–264, title I, § 101, Aug. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 749, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting this chapter and amending sections 2151b, 2222 and 2293 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Global AIDS Research and Relief Act of 2000’.’’ § 6802. Findings and purposes (a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) According to the Surgeon General of the United States, the epidemic of human im- munodeficiency virus/acquired immune defi- ciency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) will soon become the worst epidemic of infectious disease in re- corded history, eclipsing both the bubonic plague of the 1300’s and the influenza epidemic of 1918–1919 which killed more than 20,000,000 people worldwide. (2) According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), more than 34,300,000 people in the world today are living with HIV/AIDS, of which approximately 95 percent live in the developing world. (3) UNAIDS data shows that among children age 14 and under worldwide, more than 3,800,000 have died from AIDS, more than 1,300,000 are living with the disease; and in 1 year alone—1999—an estimated 620,000 became infected, of which over 90 percent were babies born to HIV-positive women. (4) Although sub-Saharan Africa has only 10 percent of the world’s population, it is home to more than 24,500,000—roughly 70 percent—of the world’s HIV/AIDS cases. (5) Worldwide, there have already been an es- timated 18,800,000 deaths because of HIV/AIDS, of which more than 80 percent occurred in sub- Saharan Africa. (6) The gap between rich and poor countries in terms of transmission of HIV from mother to child has been increasing. Moreover, AIDS threatens to reverse years of steady progress of child survival in developing countries. UNAIDS believes that by the year 2010, AIDS may have increased mortality of children under 5 years of age by more than 100 percent in regions most affected by the virus. (7) According to UNAIDS, by the end of 1999, 13,200,000 children have lost at least one parent to AIDS, including 12,100,000 children in sub- Saharan Africa, and are thus considered AIDS orphans. (8) At current infection and growth rates for HIV/AIDS, the National Intelligence Council estimates that the number of AIDS orphans worldwide will increase dramatically, poten- tially increasing threefold or more in the next 10 years, contributing to economic decay, so- cial fragmentation, and political destabiliza- tion in already volatile and strained societies. Children without care or hope are often drawn into prostitution, crime, substance abuse, or child soldiery. (9) Donors must focus on adequate prepara- tions for the explosion in the number of or- phans and the burden they will place on fami- lies, communities, economies, and govern- ments. Support structures and incentives for families, communities, and institutions which will provide care for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, or for the children who are them- selves afflicted by HIV/AIDS, will be essential. (10) The 1999 annual report by the United Na- tions Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states ‘‘[t]he number of orphans, particularly in Africa, constitutes nothing less than an emergency, requiring an emergency response’’ and that ‘‘finding the resources needed to help stabilize the crisis and protect children is a priority that requires urgent action from the inter- national community.’’. (11) The discovery of a relatively simple and inexpensive means of interrupting the trans- mission of HIV from an infected mother to the unborn child—namely with nevirapine (NVP), which costs US$4 a tablet—has created a great opportunity for an unprecedented partnership between the United States Government and the governments of Asian, African and Latin American countries to reduce mother-to-child transmission (also known as ‘‘vertical trans- mission’’) of HIV.