Activists Say US Trade With Africa Meaningless Without Suppo

Broadcast: Jan 11 2003

 

U.S. and African officials meet next week (13-17 January) in ¹⁾Mauritius for a conference on expanding U.S.-African trade. AIDS activists² say the meeting will be meaningless without increased U.S. financial support to fight a disease devastating³ African economies.

The Mauritius gathering⁴ will discuss implementation⁵ of a U.S. law called the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, passed during the Clinton presidency⁶ in 2000 to open U.S. markets to certain African goods.

The law is credited with helping^{7 2)}boost sub-Saharan African exports to the United States by more than 10 percent last year.

But AIDS activists like Asia Russell of the U.S. advocacy group Health GAP say the Bush administration is hurting African economies at the same time by not doing more to combat HIV. "The greatest barrier to the economic livelihood⁸ of Africa is the continent's AIDS pandemic, and any provision of so-called free trade won't help the dead not the 20 million dead from AIDS already on the continent, nor the 30 million ³⁾infected with no access to affordable⁹ medicines that could extend their lives," she says.

The World Health Organization estimates that of these millions of HIV patients, only 300,000 get the drugs that halt the virus'replication. AIDS activists say the United States has undermined efforts to make cheaper HIV medicines available in poor countries in an effort to protect patent rights of large pharmaceutical¹⁰ companies.

Washington helped formulate¹¹ a 2001 World Trade Organization compromise in Doha, Qatar that permits developing countries to produce low-cost copies of patented drugs when public health emergencies warrant.

But subsequent talks have failed over the question of how poor countries without drug industries can import generic¹² drugs from those than can make them. The United States fears the original agreement will be abused by nations that want to export copies of drugs for non-emergency conditions.

However, Asia Russell of Health GAP accuses Bush administration trade negotiators of impeding¹³ the talks by insisting on too strict an interpretation¹⁴ of the 2001 Doha agreement. "It was White House ⁴⁾intransigence¹⁵ and pharmaceutical industry greed that killed all hope of reaching a solution within the timeline agreed to by WTO members just a year before," she says. "The White House is running roughshod over its historic commitment set out during the Doha ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization."

A December statement from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick says Washington has worked intensively to find a solution that will provide life-saving drugs to those truly in need. While an agreement is sought, he pledges not to challenge any WTO member that breaks the organization's rules on drug export, and asks other members to join this moratorium¹⁶.

AIDS activists also criticize the Bush administration for not supplying more money to the Global Fund, formed last year to collect and disperse¹⁷ money to countries with ⁵⁾epidemic¹⁸ AIDS, ⁶⁾tuberculosis¹⁹, and ⁷⁾malaria²⁰. The United States has pledged $500 million to the fund, but many international economists²¹ and public health and developmental experts say the fair U.S. share is five times more, or $2.5 billion.

In comparison to this need, one leading South African AIDS activist¹ dismisses the benefits of the U.S. law promoting trade with Africa as puny²². Zackie Achmat of the Treatment Action Campaign, insists that, in addition to spending more on AIDS, the United States should stop ⁸⁾subsidizing farmers, which he says puts African labor²³ at a disadvantage. "Where I live, in the last 18 months, more than 100,000 textile and clothing jobs have been lost, particularly because of trade restrictions²⁴. We would like to see fairer trade and most importantly the Bush administration leading the battle on HIV-AIDS," he says.

Asia Russell of Health GAP says she is heartened that the new majority Republican Party leader in the U.S. Senate is Bill Frist, a physician whom she says has shown an interest in making African AIDS a key U.S. policy issue.

David McAlary, VOA news, Washington.

 

 

1) Mauritius n.毛里求斯(非洲岛国)

2) boost [bu:st]v.推进

3) infect[in5fekt]vt.[医] 传染, 感染

4) intransigence [in5trAnsidVEns]n.不妥协态度, 不让步,不调和

5) epidemic [7epi5demik]adj.流行的, 传染的, 流行性

6) tuberculosis [tju7bE:kju5lEusis]n.肺结核

7) malaria [mE5lZEriE]n.疟疾, 瘴气

8) subsidize[5sQbsidaiz]v.资助, 津贴

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 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

6 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

7 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。

8 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

9 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

10 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

11 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

12 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

13 impeding   

a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的

参考例句：

• Fallen rock is impeding the progress of rescue workers. 坠落的石头阻滞了救援人员的救援进程。
• Is there sufficient room for the kiosk and kiosk traffic without impeding other user traffic? 该环境下是否有足够的空间来摆放信息亭？信息亭是否会妨碍交通或者行走？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

15 intransigence   

n.妥协的态度；强硬

参考例句：

• He often appeared angry and frustrated by the intransigence of both sides.他似乎常常为双方各不相让而生气沮丧。
• Yet for North Korea,intransigence is the norm.不过对朝鲜来说，决不妥协是其一贯作风。

16 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

17 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

18 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。

19 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。

20 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

21 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

23 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

24 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制