VOA标准英语2010年-AIDS: Fewer People Being Infected, Few

A new report from UNAIDS says significant progress is being made against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings are contained in the 2010 report on the global AIDS epidemic¹.
The latest report shows the number of newly infected people in sub-Saharan Africa fell in 2009 to about 1.8 million. That compares to around 2.2 million in 2001.
It also says in 22 sub-Saharan countries, the number of new infections declined by more than 25 percent between 2001 and 2009. This includes four of the five countries with the largest HIV epidemics² – namely Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Strategy workingPaul De Lay, UNAIDS deputy executive director, says, "This report clearly demonstrates that with confidence and conviction we have broken the trajectory³ of the AIDS epidemic. Fewer people are becoming infected with HIV and fewer people are dying from AIDS."Overall, it's estimated 33-million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS – the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa.
"New HIV infections have fallen by nearly 20 percent in the last 10 years. AIDS-related deaths have fallen by nearly 20 percent in the last five years," says De Lay, adding, "At least 56 countries that have sufficient data for study have stabilized⁴ or significantly slowed down the rate of new HIV infections."Nigeria is one of the countries where the HIV epidemic is now reported stabilized. But De Lay warns all the news is not positive.
"There are some regions," he says, "where new HIV infections are on the rise, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report also shows that there are epidemics occurring in sub-populations. In particular, there is a resurgence⁵ of HIV in young men who have sex with men in North America and Western Europe."Despite that, the new UNAIDS report shows that prevention can be successful.
Behavior change and preventionBernhard Schwartlander, director of the agency's evidence, strategy and results department, says, "We have seen that in more and more countries people are actually adopting safer behaviors. In 59 countries, for example, less than 25 percent of the men report having sex with more than one partner in the last 12 months, which clearly is a positive trend that can be linked in many countries also with decreases in the number of new infections."Success can also be seen in preventing HIV transmission from infected mothers to their newborns.
"Fewer children are being born with HIV. New infections among infants have dropped by 24 percent in the last five years. And in 2009, we estimate that this number stands at 370,000, which of course is still the target to be overcome," he says.
People with HIV/AIDS are also living longer due to the greater availability of anti-retroviral drugs. More than 5.2 million people in developing countries are receiving treatment. However, UNAIDS estimates there are 10 million people, with advanced stages of HIV/AIDS, who still need access to treatment.
Schwartlander says although it can be seen that investments are paying off, economic austerity is placing those gains in jeopardy⁶.
"For the first time ever over the past decade or 20 years," he says, "the resources available from international sources in 2009 were less than the resources made available from international donors⁷ in the previous year in 2008. While the difference is not dramatic, it clearly indicates that there's a difference in the trend after having seen significant increases from year to year. This doesn't seem to be the case anymore."The report also says there are still high levels of stigma⁸ and discrimination surrounding the disease some 30 years into the epidemic. For example, the report says in 79 countries and areas, same sex relationships are still criminalized. Some countries even impose the death penalty for those convicted of having such relationships.
What's more, UNAIDS says violence against women and the fear of violence block many women from having access to HIV/AIDS related services.

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 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。

3 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

4 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

6 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

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 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。