2006年VOA标准英语-Figuring Out Which AIDS Prevention Program

By Carol Pearson
Washington, DC
26 April 2006
 
watch AIDS What Works report

Unprecedented¹ amounts of money are going to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.  But, as VOA's Carol Pearson reports, finding out which prevention programs work is often difficult.

Billions of dollars have gone to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The money has come from the U.S. and other governments, the World Bank and private sources such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Much more than money is needed, according to Martha Ainsworth of the World Bank. "We're now at a point where there is much greater political commitment from the countries," she says.  "There's much, much more in the way of finance out there to stop the epidemic².  But we now need to move from generating commitment and mobilization to demonstrating results on the ground, in terms of preventing the number of new infections and keeping people alive." 

Martha Ainsworth  
  
Ms. Ainsworth says, there is not always an obvious connection between AIDS prevention programs and their effectiveness.  "We have very little evidence in many of the countries between the links of what was actually done and what those outcomes are.  We can't distinguish between whether this is the normal outcome of the epidemic or a result of public policy."

She says it is nearly impossible to find out how many people did not get AIDS because a prevention program worked.

Program evaluations⁴ are not scientific. And what works in one country does not necessarily work in another, something Debrework Zewdie, the World Bank's Director for the Global HIV/AIDS program, has emphasized.

 
Debrework Zewdie
  
"If you take some of the generalized epidemics⁵ in Africa, for example, it is mainly heterosexual transmission," says Ms. Zewdie. "In some of the countries, this epidemic is being fueled by specific risk behavior groups.  If you go to Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the risk behavior group which is fueling the epidemic is injecting drug users.  So you need two different programs in these two parts of the world to address the epidemic."

There are also other considerations.  

 
Michele Orza 
  
Michele Orza is with The (U.S.) President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. “Are new HIV infections really being prevented?  Are people infected with and affected⁶ by HIV/AIDS living longer, healthier lives?"

Cyril Pervilhac from the World Health Organization said at a conference held earlier this year it is difficult to get good program evaluations.  He says program organizers need to realize the evaluations are not meant to be criticisms.

 
Cyril Pervilhac
  
He said it is important to treat local program operators as partners in the evaluation³. "The recent phone call I had from the team leader was saying that he very much appreciated this participatory approach, that is, involving the countries and W.H.O. at different levels in this process."

Ainsworth says the evaluations are further complicated because sex and other risky⁷ behaviors responsible for the spread of AIDS are still taboo⁸ topics in some countries.

AIDS has social, moral, economic and political considerations, and, she says all of these concerns need to be addressed in order to successfully fight the disease. 

Add these complex issues to medical budgets already stretched thin, and she says it is easy for countries to ignore the spread of AIDS, at least in the beginning.

Ms. Ainsworth, “It's invisible largely in the early years when it is spreading.  People don't get sick until about 10 years after they've become infected, so whereas we'd like to get governments to act early, the problem is, if they act early, there's no one visibly ill, so they don't think there's a problem." 

Experts, such as Christian⁹ Voumard, the UNICEF representative in China, have been concerned about potential AIDS explosions in this populous¹⁰ country. 

 
Christian Voumard
  
"Twenty percent of China's populations are young people.  And this is also about 20 percent of the world's young population.  If we are able to get them to know the facts, to share them with their friends, their families, their communities, and to care about other young people and children, they will make a huge difference for the global campaign on Children and AIDS."

China now has youth ambassadors on AIDS that work with UNICEF to prevent the spread of AIDS among China's young people.

Ainsworth says, just as the world needs a variety of programs, donors¹¹ also need to know which programs to fund in order to stop a disease that has already claimed too many lives.

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 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。

3 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

4 evaluations   

估价( evaluation的名词复数 )； 赋值； 估计价值； [医学]诊断

参考例句：

• In fact, our moral evaluations are merely expressions of our desires. 事实上，我们的道德评价只是我们欲望的表达形式。 来自哲学部分
• Properly speaking, however, these evaluations and insights are not within the concept of official notice. 但准确地讲，这些评估和深远见识并未包括在官方通知概念里。

5 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 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。

8 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》