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WASHINGTON, DC--U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) joined Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) today to introduce the Microbicide Development Act to combat HIV infection by investing in this new, life saving technology. Microbicide products are gels or foams that could be applied topically to prevent HIV infection in women independent of their male partner.
“It is an honor to introduce this legislation on International Women’s Day and in anticipation of the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 10th,” said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky. “Microbicides may hold the key to HIV prevention among women, which is why it deserves our immediate attention and investment. This bicameral and bipartisan legislation could ultimately save a generation of women by preventing millions of HIV infections worldwide.”
“The AIDS Foundation of Chicago is thrilled that this critical HIV prevention legislation is being introduced by two homegrown, visionary champions of sane, sound HIV/AIDS legislation - Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Senator Barack Obama,” said Jim Pickett, Director of Public Policy at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. “Their leadership of the Microbicide Development Act will help to develop new safe and effective HIV prevention options for women and men all around the world - new tools we desperately need to curb the pandemic.”
The growth of infection rates among women is changing the face of HIV/AIDS. Women now account for nearly half of all HIV/AIDS cases across the globe and nearly 60 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these women live in monogamous relationships but, because they are unable or too afraid to ask their husbands or partners to use condoms, they have no prevention tools at their disposal.
The Microbicide Development Act would advance and accelerate efforts to develop an effective product to protect against HIV infection. This legislation would bolster and coordinate microbicide research and development programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the United States Agency of International Development (USAID). The bill would also establish a unit dedicated to microbicide research and development at the NIH and requite the development of a strategic plan to expedite research.
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