VOA慢速英语2013 联合国称呼减少艾滋病工作在亚洲进展甚微

 

AS IT IS 2013-12-16 UN: Little Progress In Reducing AIDS In Asia 联合国称呼减少艾滋病工作在亚洲进展甚微

Hello, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we report the latest news in the difficult fight against a deadly disease.

First the bad news:

The United Nations says there has been little progress in reducing the number of AIDS cases in Asia…“We have not seen a decline in new infections in our region in the last five years.”

But there is good news as well:

A new study shows that reducing poverty can help protect teenage girls in South Africa from HIV/AIDS. “Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, teenage girls face a huge risk -- which is poverty. And many of them really struggle to pay for basic things in their families, like  food…”

Good news and bad in the fight against HIV/AIDS. That is the subject of our program today, as you learn everyday American English on VOA.

Number of HIV/AIDS Cases Rises in Asia and PacificA new United Nations report says little progress has been made in the fight against HIV in Asia. AIDS researchers and activists¹ are answering the report by calling for  area governments to give more help in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Caty Weaver² reports.

The report -- by the UN Program on HIV/AIDS -- says 4.9 million people are living with HIV in the Asia and Pacific area, which is mainly India, China and Indonesia.

Officials released the report late last month at the same time as the meeting of the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. The report has some good  news. The rate of new infections in the area has been reduced by more than 25 percent since 2001. India, Burma, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Thailand all report that  new HIV infections dropped by more than 50 percent during the past ten years.

But the report also says that the number of new HIV infections is increasing sharply in Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines. There are about 350,000 new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific area every year. That number has been almost unchanged since 2008.

Steve Kraus is the director of UNAIDS in Asia and the Pacific. He says efforts to reduce HIV infections are failing.

“We have to innovate³. We have not seen a decline in new infections in our region in the last five years. We need to challenge the status quo because laws, policies  and practices too often are barriers. Access to treatment is not available and prevention programs have not been scaled up.”

The UN report says HIV infection is growing fastest among homosexual men, with 27 million men at risk to the virus. In Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines rising  rates of new infections are linked to those who inject illegal drugs.

Malu Marin works for the non-governmental organization Seven Sisters.

“We have made gains in changing risky⁴ behaviors that increase vulnerabilities to HIV infection, but we have not made gains in changing the behavior of policymakers,  political leaders and state actors. Evidence should be our foundation, and yet 30 years later HIV is still viewed from the lens of dogmatic morality. We are getting to  zero change because of zero access to funding, zero legal reforms and zero political will.”

Ratu Epeli Nailatikau is the president of Fiji. He says more needs to be done to reduce discrimination. “Programs addressing HIV related stigma⁵ and discrimination in the work place, schools and trade based organizations were also reported as contributing to progress  towards this target in several countries, though such programs are rarely implemented⁶ at a large enough scale.”

I’m Caty Weaver.

Now, back to Christopher Cruise…Thanks Caty...

Study: Poverty, HIV/AIDS and South African GirlsA new study shows that reducing poverty can help protect teenage girls in South Africa from HIV/AIDS. It says small, monthly government payments let girls live more  normal lives, and avoid having sex with older men. These older men are called “sugar daddies.” They have money, and they use it to persuade poor girls to have sex  with them.

Dr. Lucie Cluver is an associate professor at Oxford⁷ University and the University of Cape⁸ Town. She is the lead author of the study.

“Throughout sub-Saharan Africa teenage girls face a huge risk, which is poverty. And many of them really struggle to pay for basic things in their families, like  food. So, about 25 percent of the children in our sample don’t have enough to eat in their families for at least two days in the past week.”

But Professor Cluver says going hungry is just one of the problems they face.

“One of the biggest reasons that girls talk about having older boyfriends -- or having transactional sex or sugar daddies -- is because they need to pay school fees  and they need to provide food for their family. And that is especially bad when someone is ill in their family. So if they’re living with a grandmother who’s old and  very frail⁹ or if they’re living with someone who’s very sick with HIV/AIDS or something else, then it’s even harder because they have to support that person.”

She says boys do not face the same problem.

“Really it’s about the market. It’s a buyers and a sellers market. What you do get is older men who have access to cash, who are looking for younger girlfriends.  You just don’t seem to see the sugar mommy syndrome¹⁰, where you would have an older woman and a younger boy. You just don’t seem to see it.”

Professor Cluver says some people mistakenly believe the teenage girls want to have sugar daddies.  “A lot of what people have talked about when they talk about transactional sex and sugar daddies has been seeing teenage girls as choosing to have these older  boyfriends because they give them nice toiletries and hair stuff and cellphones and luxuries. So they’ve seen it as something that these girls have been choosing to  do because they’re aspirational¹¹ -- because they’re trying to, you know, look like Beyoncé.”

Professor Cluver and her researchers spoke¹² to more than 3,500 South African girls. Their average age is 14.

She says the South African government has increased payments that were given under an old program. The program now gives support payments of about $35 a month to 11  million children under age 18.

The South African government also gives about $96 a month for each child being cared for by people who are not their parents. There are 600,000 of these children. But  Professor Cluver says many children still do not get payments from the program.

The payment system is not perfect. Professor Cluver’s study shows the payments do not reduce other kinds of risks for girls, such as the likelihood of having  unprotected sex or having sex after drinking too much alcohol. And the system does not reduce the HIV risk for boys.

Studies have shown that payments can also help lower the number of new HIV cases in Malawi and Tanzania. In Malawi, the payments permit girls to date boys their own  age. These boys are less likely to be infected with the AIDS virus than older men.

And that’s our program for today.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

1 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》

2 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。

3 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

4 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。

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 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

9 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

10 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

11 aspirational   

志同的，有抱负的

参考例句：

• Most of the images that bombard us all are aspirational. 轰击的图像，我们都期望最大。
• Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India's high figures. 分析师们指出，自助读书、热爱读书是印度人均读书时间超过别的国家的主要原因。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。