VOA慢速英语2009-Development Report - Teaching HIV Prevention to

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A researcher says three hundred forty-three thousand AIDS deaths in South Africa in the last ten years could have been prevented. Nicoli Nattrass blames the former government of Thabo Mbeki for delays in providing antiretroviral drugs.
　
A nurse treats an AIDS patient at a hospice in White River, South Africa. The center is partly supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

She directs the AIDS and Society Research Unit at the University of Cape¹ Town School of Economics². Her study is in the journal African Affairs. She says the former president and his health minister scared people away from the drugs which suppress³ H.I.V. The former president claimed they were unsafe and ineffective.

H.I.V. is the virus that causes AIDS. A new study in the journal Nature has shown some hopeful results from an experimental gel that might protect women from H.I.V. The gel is made from glycerol monolaurate. GML is commonly added to food products to protect against harmful microbes.

Scientists at the University of Minnesota and the National Cancer Institute in the United States tested the gel on female monkeys. The study used an animal form of H.I.V. More studies are needed to know if the gel could work for humans.

In Kenya, a project aims to educate girls about H.I.V. prevention while helping⁴ them stay in school during their monthly periods. Girls from poor families can miss up to a week of school each month because they do not have enough money for supplies.

So a group called AmericaShare worked with the Johnson & Johnson company to produce washable sanitary⁵ napkins. The American program known as PEPFAR provided the H.I.V. information to include in kits⁶ with the napkins. PEPFAR is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

In the future, project organizers want to have international donors⁷ buy the kits for girls and young women who cannot afford them. The kits are called Huru, Swahili for "Freedom."

Also in Kenya, a video game is being tested as another way to teach young people to avoid H.I.V. The game is called "Pamoja Mtaani," which means "Together in the Hood⁸." The project involves PEPFAR and Warner Brothers Entertainment. Another company, Virtual⁹ Heroes, made the game.

Young people are not the only ones who need to protect themselves against H.I.V. The Bulletin¹⁰ of the World Health Organization reports that Brazil has a new education campaign aimed at people over the age of fifty. Their infection rate has doubled since nineteen ninety-six.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

3 suppress   

vt.压制，镇压，查禁，抑制，阻止

参考例句：

• He continued to suppress the people and serve the imperialists.他继续镇压人民，为帝国主义效劳。
• She was struggling to suppress her sobs.她拼命不让自己哭出来。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

6 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

7 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》

8 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

9 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

10 bulletin   

n.小报，会刊，简明新闻，新闻快报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• The radio bulletin warned of the typhoon.收音机新闻快报发布了台风警报。