2007年VOA标准英语-India Lowers Estimate of HIV, AIDS Infections

By Steve Herman
New Delhi
17 August 2007
 

India was once thought to have the world's highest number of people with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS. But the estimate was recently reduced by more than half -- down to 2.5 million from 5.7 million. The reduction, however, does not mean India is relaxing its fight against the epidemic¹. VOA's Steve Herman reports from New Delhi.

Health officials in India have an estimated 2.5 million cases of HIV and AIDS to deal with currently

Officials say improved counting methods lowered the estimate of the number of Indians infected with the AIDS-causing virus. The new estimate means that India has fewer cases than South Africa or Nigeria.

The country coordinator² here for the Joint³ United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, Dr. Denis Broun, says the new number is no reason to be less vigilant⁴.

"You are not going to tell people that it's safe to go and see sex workers without condoms because it's 2.5 million, not 5.7 million,” says the doctor. “Prevention policy is still the same. People still need to know about HIV, still need to be educated about HIV, they still need to use condoms in safe sex. They still need to have prevention of injecting drug use."

Dr. Denis Broun

But no one really knows for certain how many of India's 1.1 billion people are HIV positive.

Dr. Broun added, "People hesitate to be tested for HIV. Just asking for an HIV test is sometimes a way of being stigmatized⁵. People are not well considered and not treated in a humane⁶ manner in many hospitals. They are discriminated⁷ against by the health professionals."

Risky⁸ sex by migrant workers, truck drivers, students and others is spreading the virus, and in some parts of the country illicit⁹ use of injected drugs is a growing problem.

Ashok Alexander

Ashok Alexander is the director of Avahan, the India AIDS initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He contends that such a huge country cannot effectively combat the disease if the fight is left just to the government.

"Government has a primary role to play, but media has a huge role to play, societal leaders have a tremendous role to play. There are people in India, whether they are Bollywood stars or cricket -- sports -- leaders, a single word reaches millions of people at one time," he says.

The government is sharply increasing the amount of money it spends fighting AIDS -- by nearly 40 times -- to almost $2 billion. An additional billion dollars will come from overseas donors¹⁰.

The priority is on prevention, rather than treatment.

An AIDS patient

Despite a pledge by India's government to treat 100,000 HIV-positive people for free by the end of this year, progress is slow. Only 10 to 15 percent of those who need anti-retroviral treatments are receiving them.

Ashok Alexander of the Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative says, "HIV unfortunately affects the most marginalized and the poorest populations first and for them to spend $100 or more per month is completely out of the question. In fact, a disease such as HIV can put a family into debt for generations."

The prognosis for India remains¹¹ sobering. Despite the lowered estimate, few experts doubt that millions of people here will develop AIDS in the years ahead. That will prove to be a significant challenge for India, where the goal of providing the most basic health care to the vast number of rural and urban poor remains unfulfilled.

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

5 stigmatized   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was stigmatized as an ex-convict. 他遭人污辱，说他给判过刑。 来自辞典例句
• Such a view has been stigmatized as mechanical jurisprudence. 蔑称这种观点为机械法学。 来自辞典例句

6 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

7 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

8 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

9 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

10 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。