Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - January 31, 2008)
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Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the PEPFAR Accountability and Transparency Act, a bill that will increase our ability to research and identify the most effective interventions in combating global AIDS. As we work to increase funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, I believe we must also insure that we maximize our investment in programs that have been found effective in preventing infections and delivering care to as many people as possible.
Through the years, the science known as operations research--the ability to identify what is working and what is not working in our treatment, prevention, and care interventions--has helped to improve the effectiveness of the health care delivery system that we have established and enhanced with U.S. funding.
Take, for example, the issue of mother to child transmission of HIV. In the U.S., cases of perinatal HIV transmission have dropped markedly--from more than 1,000 in 1991 to less than 100 in 2005--largely due to access to critically needed, life-extending drugs. But in the developing world, where fewer than 10 percent of HIV positive pregnant women, about 1 out of every 3 children born to mothers with HIV end up with the virus--a wholly preventable situation. The field of operations research is allowing us to understand how we can, in low resource settings, improve testing, education, and treatment options that reduce cases of perinatal transmission.
There are many other areas where the data from operations research can transform our ability to maximize the U.S. investment in global AIDS funding--through measuring the impact of our prevention education efforts, to understanding how addressing gender inequality can reduce HIV infection, to ensuring that treatment is delivered in a way that extends the lives of people with HIV.
This legislation will require the Government to develop a strategic plan to improve program monitoring, evaluation and operations research. With this plan, we can determine the effectiveness of the interventions we are funding, so that we can replicate those that are working well, and examine ways to improve those that do not have the outcomes that we expected. The bill would also increase the dissemination of research findings, so that those working in low-resource settings would be able to easily learn and implement cost-effective interventions in their communities.
I am proud to support increases for PEPFAR, but I also believe that we must ensure that these increases are targeted toward effective programs that reach as many people as possible. This legislation will help us achieve that goal. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to support this legislation and operations research as we move forward with PEPFAR reauthorization.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the RECORD.
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