Microbicide Development Act

WHEREAS, Microbicides are a promising new prevention tool that could slow down the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and around the world; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated that by age 25 one-half of all sexually active people in the United States are expected to have been infected with a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD); and

WHEREAS, women are the new face of HIV/AIDS and account for nearly one-half of the 37 million adults living with HIV and AIDS worldwide as of 2005, and approximately 7,000 women are infected with HIV each day; and

WHEREAS, women comprise about 8 percent of all reported AIDS cases, yet are the fastest growing population with AIDS, and sex with an HIV-infected male is the most common route of transmission; and

WHEREAS, AIDS is now the number one cause of death among African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34 years; and

WHEREAS, Microbicides may be formulated as gels, creams, or rings to inactivate, block, or otherwise interfere with the transmission of the pathogens that cause AIDS and other STDs, allowing women to protect themselves from disease; and

WHEREAS, in 2005, NIH spent barely 2% of its HIV/AIDS research budget on microbicides, and that funding level is inadequate; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP support the Microbicide development at (S. 550 and H.R. 3854), which would amend the Public Health Service Act to facilitate the development of microbicides for preventing the transmission of HIV and other diseases; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP call on the federal government to make a strong commitment to microbicide research and development through funding, and working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) who are three agencies that have played an important role in microbicide research and development; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP, in the implementation of the research portion of this act, call on the government to fund only that research that acknowledges or tries to explain the complex interactions among race and the biological and social determinants of health