VOA慢速英语2010-Health Report - South Africa's Huge HIV T

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

South Africa plans to test fifteen million people for H.I.V. by June of next year. That is almost one-third of its population.

South Africa has the most people living with H.I.V. of any nation. The number of infected men, women and children is estimated at more than five and a half million -- or eleven percent of the population.

President Jacob Zuma launched the testing campaign on Sunday in Johannesburg. He announced the results of his latest blood test for H.I.V.

JACOB ZUMA: "My April results, like the three previous ones, registered a negative outcome."

He said he was sharing the results to support openness and understanding.

JACOB ZUMA: “We have to work harder together to fight the perceptions and the stigma¹. We have to make all South Africans that people living with H.I.V. have not committed any crime."

The country's former president, Thabo Mbeki, was known for the unaggressive way his government dealt with AIDS. He questioned whether H.I.V. even caused the disease.

South African President Jacob Zuma, center, at a World AIDS Day event in Pretoria, South Africa last December

The new testing and counseling campaign will start at a single location in each of South Africa's nine provinces this month. The program will be expanded every two months until fifty-two health centers are offering the service.

The government says it will also expand treatment and support services.

Francois Venter is a senior director in the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand. He says the testing campaign may put additional stress on the health system, but that will show where the weaknesses are. He says knowing which areas of the system are going to cause future problems will make the effort worthwhile, even if the goal of fifteen million is not reached.

The South Africa National AIDS Council is heading the campaign. The council includes government representatives, medical experts and health activists². The theme of the campaign is "I am responsible. We are responsible. South Africa is taking responsibility."

Along with H.I.V., South Africa also has high rates of diabetes³, high blood pressure and tuberculosis⁴. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the campaign will be used to improve all health care. People who get tested for H.I.V. will also get other services including screening for blood pressure, blood sugar and TB.

This June the eyes of the football world will be on South Africa when it becomes the first African country to host the World Cup.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁵. For more health news, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also get our reports on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.
 

1 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。

2 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》

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 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。

5 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。