Sec. 2. Findings

235 words·~1 min read·/bill/113/s/626/is/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress makes the following findings: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1,100,000 people are living with HIV in the United States, and that 1 in 5 of those people living with HIV is unaware of their infection. An estimated 49,000 Americans become infected with HIV each year. More than 15,000 people with AIDS still die each year in the United States. Through 2010, more than 636,000 people with AIDS in the United States have died since the epidemic began.

Globally, UNAIDS estimates that more than 34,000,000 persons are living with HIV. Persons with HIV/AIDS require access to antiretroviral drugs. In the United States, public and private sector expenditures on antiretroviral drugs currently exceed $9,000,000,000 per year. The United States Federal Government is the largest funder of treatments for HIV/AIDS in the developing world. The development of new medicines and vaccines for HIV/AIDS is a national priority. Market exclusivity for new products is an expensive, inefficient, and unfair mechanism to reward investments in new products, and has created hardships for persons with HIV/AIDS and businesses that employ persons with HIV/AIDS.

By de-linking research and development incentives from product prices, and by eliminating legal monopolies to sell new medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, it is possible to induce investments that are medically more important, procure products at low prices from competitive suppliers, and introduce more efficient incentives for research and development.