VOA标准英语2011--African American Communities Face AIDS Crisis

African American Communities Face AIDS Crisis

More than a million people in the United States are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 50,000 more people are infected with HIV each year, and African Americans are seven times more likely than white people to be among those newly infected.

African Americans make up about 13 percent of the US population and account for nearly half of all new HIV infections. The epidemic¹ afflicts² everyone, young and old alike in black communities throughout the country.

"One in 16 black men and one in 13 black women will be infected with the virus," says Sharon Arline Bradley, the health director of the N-double A-CP, a civil rights organization that traditionally focuses on racial equality and legal issues. Now it has an office on AIDS.

The causes of AIDS in black communities are the same as anywhere else, having unprotected sex and multiple sex partners, sharing IV drug needles and not getting medical help once infected.

The dark red areas on this map from Emory University shows where HIV is most common in the United States.

This one shows where most African Americans have the virus. Researchers say AIDS is more common among the poor.

At the National Institutes of Health, Dr. John Ruffin, oversees³ minority health issues.

"There are people, for example, who do not have access to [health] care," Ruffin says. "They don't have insurance. They don't have many of those things that are needed once they have contacted the disease."

Women with Metro⁴ Teen AIDS, a community health organization, teach young people how to avoid getting HIV. In the African American community, there's a stigma⁵ associated with AIDS rooted in homophobia.

"The biggest stigma on it, HIV, to me is gay people. Gay people. That's where people think it came from," says Ladera Elllis.

Both health officials and community activists⁶ say AIDS has to be destigmatized in order to reduce infections. After he was infected with the virus, Phill Wilson founded the Black AIDS Institute, a think tank focused on stopping AIDS among African Americans.

"I'm alive today because I got tested," says Wilson. "I'm alive today because I took control of my life. I'm alive today because I took advantage of the treatments that are available."

It comes down to eliminating the stigma associated with the AIDS virus, providing education, testing, treatment and health care in African American communities, getting people to limit the number of sexual partners and using condoms, he says.

"We have the ability to end the AIDS epidemic in America today. And the question is no longer can we end the AIDS epidemic, but will we?"

More funding is needed for testing and prevention programs because, Wilson says, when people understand the virus, they are better able to protect themselves from getting it.

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 afflicts   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Level 3-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 三级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。
• Level 1-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 一级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。

3 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

4 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

5 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》