2006年VOA标准英语-HIV and AIDS Patients Offered a Once-Daily Pill

By Melinda Smith
Washington, D.C.
14 July 2006
 
watch Atripla report

It is being called the world's first once-a-day treatment for HIV and AIDS, and it promises to make life easier for AIDS patients who have had to take a multitude of pills in the past.  Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval of the medication. 

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Atripla tablets   
  
It's called Atripla ... and it will be first offered in the United States as a salmon-colored pill.  Atripla will be distributed later as a white pill in other countries.  The new drug could be shipped eventually to 15 developing countries, most in Africa, where the Bush administration has promised support to combat the disease.

Dr. Andrew Eschenbach of the Food and Drug Administration praised the effort by rival companies working together to develop the combination drug.  "It is a model of the proactive collaboration¹ between the FDA and therapy developers, to streamline² the process so that we can bring lifesaving interventions³ to patients at the earliest possible time."

Dr. Andrew Eschenbach  
  
AIDS patients and medical experts working in the field have long wished for a single pill to make the drug treatment more convenient.  Studies have shown that many AIDS/HIV patients fail to keep up with the regimen of a multitude of pills every day.  The fewer drugs needed, health officials say, the more effective the treatment would be on a community wide basis. 

In parts of Africa and other developing nations, the storage and distribution of fewer pills would also make treatment more economical. 

HIV/AIDs patients in the United States will pay about $1,100 for a month's supply.  The cost of Atripla is expected to be much cheaper for those stricken with the disease in poorer countries.

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

2 streamline   

vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化

参考例句：

• We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
• Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。

3 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网