VOA标准英语2009-Global Fund Approves $2.4 Billion to Fight A

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
15 November 2009

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria¹ and Tuberculosis² has approved grants worth $2.4 billion to fight the diseases during the next two years. The amount represents a slight decrease in funding levels, though the three killer³ diseases show little sign of abatement⁴.

The $2.4 billion figure approved by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis is $350 million less than last year's amount, which was set before the full effects of the world economic slump⁵ were known.

 
Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine warned in a news release even this reduced funding level may not be sustainable unless wealthy countries and other donors⁷ increase their commitments. The amount was set during a Fund board meeting in Addis Ababa.

The U.S. Global AIDS coordinator⁸, Ambassador Eric Goosby attended the Addis Ababa meeting. He says among the hardest-to-reach vulnerable groups are those engaging in behaviors that in some countries are illegal or socially unacceptable, such as homosexuals.

"These difficult to reach populations frequently go underground and remain not visible to the medical delivery system," said Goosby. "So we are still seeing people coming into care very late because they are not getting tested early. They are coming in when they are symptomatic, which is usually after a decade of infection.  And presenting with that actually life-threatening infection to the hospital, usually in an extreme state."

Goosby also said while Ethiopia's HIV infection rate is worrisome, it is far lower than in the AIDS ravaged⁹ countries of southern Africa.

"Looking at the 23 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who are infected, Ethiopia estimates are, makes up about one million of those," added Goosby. "So it is not the worst impacted country in sub-Saharan Africa by a long shot."

Goosby said infection rates in South Africa and Botswana remain significantly higher. Nevertheless, he says Ethiopia is among the countries where AIDS is spreading from several different sources.

"There are many epidemics¹⁰ in the population. The one that dominates in Ethiopia is heterosexual transmission, multiple partners," he said.  "And we frequently find out there is HIV in a couple or social group by the woman becoming pregnant and going to her first prenatal visit and getting tested for HIV and showing that she is HIV positive. You then go back to look at her partner and her partner admitting to having other partners, and you see a group of HIV positivity where really people did not necessarily perceive themselves as being at high risk"

During its meeting the Fund Executive Board also elected Ethiopia's Health Minister Tedros Adhanom as chairman for the coming year.

The Fund has provided more than $18 billion to the fight against the three killer diseases since it was founded by the G8 group of wealthy countries in 2002. The United States is the largest donor⁶, providing more than a quarter of the Fund's resources.

Ambassador Goosby also administers the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which provided Ethiopia an additional $350 million in AIDS prevention and treatment funding during the last fiscal¹¹ year.

1 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。

2 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。

3 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

4 abatement   

n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销

参考例句：

• A bag filter for dust abatement at the discharge point should be provided.在卸料地点应该装设袋滤器以消除粉尘。
• The abatement of the headache gave him a moment of rest.头痛减轻给他片刻的休息。

5 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

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 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

9 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

10 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

11 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。