VOA慢速英语20060201a

HEALTH REPORT - Once-Daily Pill Could Simplify H.I.V. Treatment By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, February 01, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Sometimes the best medicine is more than one kind of medicine. Malaria¹, tuberculosis² and H.I.V./AIDS, for example, are all treated with combinations of drugs.


Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences have combined many H.I.V. drugs into a single pill

But that can mean a lot of pills to take. It would be simpler if drug companies combined all the medicines into a single pill, taken just once a day.

Now, two companies say they have done that for people just starting treatment for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The companies are Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences.

They have developed a single pill that combines three drugs currently on the market. Bristol-Myers Squibb sells one of them under the name Sustiva. Gilead combined the others, Emtriva and Viread, into a single pill in two thousand four.

Combining drugs involves more than technical issues. It also involves issues of competition if the drugs are made by different companies. The new once-daily pill is the result of what is described as the first joint³ venture agreement of its kind in the treatment of H.I.V.

In January the New England Journal of Medicine published a study of the new pill. Researchers compared its effectiveness to that of the widely used combination of Sustiva and Combivir. Combivir contains two drugs, AZT and 3TC. The researchers say that after one year of treatment, the new pill suppressed H.I.V. levels in more patients and with fewer side effects.

Gilead paid for the study. Professor Joel Gallant⁴ at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, led the research. He is a paid adviser⁵ to Gilead and Bristol-Meyers Squibb as well as the maker⁶ of Combivir, GlaxoSmithKline.

GlaxoSmithKline reacted to the findings by saying that a single study is of limited value. It says the effectiveness of Combivir has been shown in each of more than fifty studies.

The price of the new once-daily pill has not been announced. But Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb say they will provide it at reduced cost to developing countries.

They plan in the next few months to ask the United States Food and Drug Administration to approve the new pill.

There are limits to who could take it because of the different drugs it contains. For example, pregnant women are told not to take Sustiva because of the risk of birth disorders⁷.

Experts say more than forty million people around the world are living with H.I.V.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

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 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》