2006年VOA标准英语-UN Says HIV-AIDS Could Slow India's Economic Gr

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
23 July 2006
  

Chairman of Economic Advisory¹ Council, C Rangarajan, center, Representative of UNDP in India, Maxine Olson, right, and Director General of National Aids Control Organization, K. Sujatha Rao  
  
A new U.N. report in India has warned that the country's booming economic growth could slow if HIV-AIDS continues to spread unchecked.  The United Nations says 5.7 million people are infected with HIV in India - the largest number in any country in the world.

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The report says the potential economic costs of HIV-AIDS in India could be huge, cutting economic growth by close to one percent over the next 10 to 15 years. India's economy has been growing at nearly eight percent in recent years.

The study was done jointly² by the United Nations Development Program and India's National Council of Applied³ Economic Research - a body funded by the Indian government.

Despite the large number of HIV-AIDS sufferers in India, they are still a small percentage of the overall population. But the author of the report, Suman Bery, says the numbers will become large enough to affect India's labor⁴ supply and productivity, if the disease continues to spread unchecked.

"Even for a giant country like India, which currently has low prevalence, it could end up being significant in affecting the overall growth rate," said Bery. "The reason it has this impact is that this is a disease that affects people in their prime working age, and even though India has lots and lots of people at the skilled and semi-skilled level, that sort of loss in the labor force can have an aggregate⁵ impact."

The report says the increase in spending on health by both individuals and government will result in a decline in savings⁶, slowing growth and investment.

But the government agency in charge of halting the spread of HIV-AIDS, the National Aids Control Agency, says the findings of the report represent a worst-case scenario⁷. Sujata Rao, the head of the agency, says efforts are in progress to cut transmission of HIV in the country's worst-hit areas by targeting groups most affected⁸ by the disease: sex workers and migrant laborers⁹.

"It is not difficult. They are getting empowered. They are getting to understand, after all they also love their lives," said Rao. "If we really have a saturation¹⁰ strategy in place in the next five years, I am positive we will make an impact."

The agency is also backing demands for homosexuality to be legalized. Volunteer groups argue current laws drive homosexuals - a high-risk group - underground, making it difficult to reach them with AIDS-prevention campaigns. A local AIDS charity has petitioned a court to throw out the law making homosexuality illegal.

1 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

2 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 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。

5 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

8 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。

9 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

10 saturation   

n.饱和(状态)；浸透

参考例句：

• The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
• Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。