VOA慢速英语2014 世界艾滋病日:活动家称抗击艾滋病取得进展但远未胜利

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-02 On World AIDS Day, Activists² Claim Progress Not Victory 世界艾滋病日:活动家称抗击艾滋病取得进展但远未胜利

An activist¹ group working to end disease in Africa says the number of new AIDS patients is finally decreasing. But, the group, called the ONE campaign, says that does not mean that AIDS is over.

Erin Hohlfelder is ONE’s director of global health policy. She said the world has made gains in the fight against AIDS, but not all countries are making progress at the same rate. Seventy percent of people with the virus that causes AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa. Infections have been rising in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Ms. Hohlfelder said people working to prevent AIDS need at least $3 billion more each year to control the disease. And, she said, those most at risk of getting or having AIDS are hard to reach. These people include those who inject drugs, gay men and sex workers. 

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also identified the importance of treating children and young women. The progress the world has made in fighting AIDS has been good, he said. But, he said, the success is fragile³.

AIDS treatment

AIDS does not have a cure or a vaccine⁴. But it can be limited for many years with the right combination of drugs.

The United Nations AIDS agency, UNAIDS, says that in 2014 more than 13.5 million people had access to AIDS drugs. That number is a big improvement over 2010, when only about 5 million were getting treatment.

Michel Sidibe is the executive⁵ director of UNAIDS. He created a video for World AIDS Day. In it, he asked people to think about how many lost their lives to Ebola.

“Ebola reminds us what we were going through at the beginning of the fighting against HIV,” he said. “People were hiding themselves. They were scared. Stigma⁶, discrimination. We were not having any hope.”

But, Mr. Sidibe said the tragedy of AIDS has turned into hopeful possibility. People have worked together to give millions of patients access to life-saving drugs.

But many people with HIV are not treating the disease. Some experts blame human nature. They say people are afraid to learn whether they have AIDS. Others are tired of getting treatment. And some even believe the disease is not very serious. 

Rod McCoy has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. He works with an organization that provides HIV education and testing.

"One of the things I am concerned about as a health educator is people staying on their meds, but also people who are not infected having the mentality⁷ of, 'Oh, people take medication, so if I get infected, I will be fine.' “

Mr. McCoy said AIDS treatment has become so successful, some people no longer worry about getting the disease.

Ending AIDS

UNAIDS has a plan to end AIDS in the next 15 years.

The first goal is known as 90-90-90. By 2020, UNAIDS wants 90% of people with the disease to know they have it; 90% of patients to get treatment; and 90% of those receiving treatment to limit the virus in their bodies.

Research shows that if the virus in the body is limited, a patient is less likely to infect someone else.

Mitchell Warren is the executive director of the HIV advocacy group AVAC. He said UNAID’s 90-90-90 plan is good. But, he said, the goal will be hard to reach. For example, currently⁸ fewer than 30 percent of AIDS patients in the United States have limited the infection in their bodies.

To be 100 percent successful, Mr. Warren said, AIDS will not only have to be treated. It will have to be prevented.

Words in This Story

inject – v. to force a liquid medicine or drug into someone by using a special needle

fragile – adj. easily broken or damaged

vaccine – n. a substance to protect against a disease

stigma – n. a set of negative and often unfair beliefs a society has about something

access – n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

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 fragile   

adj.易碎的，脆的，易损坏的，虚弱的，脆弱的

参考例句：

• The old lady was increasingly fragile after her operation.那位老太太手术后身体越来越虚弱。
• This glass disc looks very fragile.这个玻璃盘子看起来很容易碎。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

6 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。

7 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

8 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。