HIV/AIDS

AIDS is the greatest humanitarian crises of our time. Worldwide, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that over 40 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS, the vast majority living in Africa and the developing world. Women and children are the most vulnerable. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that for the first time over 1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. African Americans and other minority groups have been disproportionately affected by the disease. Despite making up only 13 percent of the population, African Americans represent more than 42 percent of all people living with HIV.


Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s accomplishments in promoting effective, bipartisan measures to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and bring treatment to the infected have earned her international recognition as a leader in the fight against global HIV/AIDS.


As the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Task Force on Global HIV/AIDS and as a Senior Democratic Whip, Congresswoman Lee has played a leading role in the development of every major HIV/AIDS bill since she entered Congress. She has introduced pivotal legislation and worked with colleagues in both parties to ensure the effective adoption and implementation of laws affecting global HIV/AIDS.


The legislative actions she has spearheaded include a bill to create the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS. Recognizing the prominent role that access to medication plays in extending the lives of infected people and keeping families together, Congresswoman Lee sponsored legislation that allows impoverished countries to purchase generic, cheaper HIV/AIDS drugs. To protect vulnerable children and orphans caught in situations where their infected parents or guardians can no longer support them or who are infected themselves, she authored an act to provide social, educational, and economic support. Most recently, the she led a bipartisan effort to designate $15 billion for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS, Tuburculosis, and malaria.


Congresswoman Lee’s work in the fight against global HIV/AIDS extends beyond her role as a legislator. She has urged organizations and local governments to recognize the growing HIV/AIDS crisis and has met with American and foreign dignitaries to find creative and alternative ways to combat the disease. She was an official member of the United States delegation at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in New York. She has also participated in a number of local and international conferences like the XV World AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where she has spoken on the need to establish comprehensive sexual education programs to meet the needs of all people, regardless of their lifestyles. Since she entered Congress, she has been the only Representative who has attended all of the International AIDS Conferences.