VOA常速英语2007年-UN Cuts AIDS Figures to 33 Million

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
20 November 2007

The United Nations has sharply reduced its estimate of the size of the world's AIDS epidemic¹ in a new report published Monday. The revised figures particularly reflect new numbers for the virus in India - but also indicate strides in fighting the epidemic worldwide. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

The new study by the United Nations organization UNAIDS cuts the number of infections to about 33 million - down from its estimated 39.5 million in 2006.

Peter Ghys who heads the epidemiology and analysis division of UNAIDS in Geneva says the new number largely reflects reestimates in India - which cut the numbers of HIV infections to 2.5 million people. Still, Ghys says those figures don't reflect larger trends.

"First of all it shows globally the prevalence of HIV - that is to say the percent of those infected with HIV virus - has been at the same level more or less for several years. Globally it stands at 0.8 percent," said Ghys. "However, in Africa that percentage is a lot higher - but it's interesting to see the prevalence level has actually declined in Africa."

Overall, Africa remains² the hardest hit by the virus. Roughly 22.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live HIV/AIDS - 68 percent of the global total - and two thirds of all new infections are recorded in sub-Saharan Africa. Asia and the Caribbean region also are hard hit by the virus.

But Ghys says the level of the virus is declining among young Africans, in particular. And countries like Uganda, Zimbabwe and Kenya have actually witnessed drops in the number of new cases.

"We also have evidence from behavior surveys when people are asked about their sexual behavior... we have in the report specifically for African countries there is a real change where people are reporting [fewer] sexual partners and also reporting increased condom use. So that is quite encouraging," said Ghys.

While drugs are also helping³ more people to live longer with the virus, it still remains a major challenge - and international donations to help fight it remain far less than AIDS activists⁴ say is needed.

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 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。

4 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》