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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky
(D-IL), joined by her colleagues Representative Chris Shays (R-CT) and
Representative Danny Davis (D-IL), today introduced the Microbicide Development
Act to combat HIV infection by investing in this new technology. Microbicides
are products that would be applied topically as gels or foams to prevent HIV
infection in women, who would no longer have to rely only on their male partners
to take precautions to prevent infection.
The face of HIV/AIDS is changing because of the growth of infection rates among
women. Over 14,000 people are infected with HIV worldwide each and every
day, and about 7,000 of them are women. 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 help realize the life-saving potential of
microbicides by providing these women with a topical, easy to use product that
would prevent infection.
Representative Schakowsky remarked: “Microbicides
could be the first HIV-drugs that allow women fight to HIV-infection on their
own. Even a partially effective microbicide could stop the infections of 2.5
million women over three years. This bi-partisan bill may be able to save a
generation of women by developing this promising new preventive option.”
Representative Davis added: “Microbicides are
potentially an important new addition to the tools we have to prevent the spread
of HIV -- both inexpensive and effective – better if used in combination with
condoms, but offering women significant protection even if their partner is
unwilling to use a condom. It is cheaper and more humane to prevent disease than
to cure it, even if we had a cure (which we do not have in the case of HIV), yet
our health care system consistently de-emphases prevention. The Microbicide
Development Act is an important step in the right direction for the public
health system.”
“We need to dedicate more public health resources to
developing microbicides quickly,” Representative Shays said. “In many settings,
an HIV-infected woman has had only one partner: her husband. Microbicides
would allow these women to protect themselves against the spread of disease and
allow them to conceive children. Current prevention options are not enough.
If women and girls are to have a genuine opportunity to protect themselves,
their best option is the rapid development of new HIV-prevention technologies
like Microbicides, which women can control.”
The Microbicide Development Act would require
development and implementation of a federal strategic plan to coordinate ongoing
activities among the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and the United States Agency of International Development (USAID).
The bill would also establish an R&D Unit within the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and expedite the development and implementation
of a federal strategic plan at NIH for microbicide research.
With thousands of new HIV infections around the
world each day, scientists are racing not only to produce better treatment
options, but to find preventative drugs that are easy to distribute and use. At
the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok last year,
microbicide development was listed at one of the “10 most promising
biotechnologies for improving global health.” Scientists are currently testing
over 50 different microbicide compounds to determine whether they will be able
to help prevent HIV and other STDs. If one of them is successful, a microbicide
to prevent HIV could be publicly available in five to seven years.
Despite the promise of microbicides, neither major
pharmaceutical nor biotechnology companies have made a substantive investment
into their research and development. Because companies have failed to invest in
this research, a higher level of public investment and attention is necessary.
Representative Schakowsky emphasized the immediate
need for an investment in microbicide research. “The need to reduce HIV
infections and AIDS deaths is overwhelming and immediate. In the last 25
years, 40 million people around the world and over 30,000 in Illinois have been
infected with the disease. Now the disease is having a disproportionate effect
on women. Microbicides may hold they key to HIV-prevention among women, and they
deserve our immediate attention and investment.”
The Microbicides Development Act has wide support in
the Illinois delegation. Representatives Melissa Bean (D-Palatine), Rahm Emanel
(D-Chicago), Lane Evans (D-Moline), Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago), Jesse Jackson,
Jr. (D-Chicago), Mark Kirk (R-Deerfield) and Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) have also
signed on as original co-sponsors of this bill, and Senator Obama is the lead
sponsor in the Senate. |
