VOA标准英语2010年-South Africa Assesses Progress in Figh

International AIDS Day provides an opportunity to examine the efforts to combat the deadly virus that attacks the human immune system. In South Africa, whose 5.7 million HIV victims make it the most affected¹ country in the world, officials and activists³ are assessing an ambitious campaign launched by the government on AIDS Day (Dec 1st) last year.
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma one year ago announced what he called a new era in his government's fight against the HIV/AIDS virus.
"To take our response a step forward, we are launching a massive campaign to mobilize all South Africans to get tested for HIV. Every South African should know his or her HIV status."Mr. Zuma said 15 million people would be tested for HIV in the next year, treatment programs would be expanded and a major prevention campaign would be launched.
He also called for a change of attitude toward the disease. "Let there be no more shame, no more blame, no more discrimination and no more stigma⁴. Let the politicization and endless debates about HIV and AIDS stop," said Zuma.
This represented a dramatic shift in policy from the previous government (of Thabo Mbeki) which downplayed the seriousness of the epidemic⁵. Critics said it caused hundreds of thousands of needless deaths.
AIDS activist² Mark Heywood is deputy chairman of South Africa's National AIDS Council. He says nearly four million people have been tested in the past eight months and the number of people receiving treatment has doubled.
"There are many, many positives. But having stressed the positives I also want to say that HIV remains⁶ a massive challenge for this country," he said.
Heywood says HIV prevalence in South Africa has stabilized⁷ but deaths and new infection rates are largely unchanged. He blames this on a lack of resources, determination and planning.
The United Nations issued a report last week saying that, nevertheless, progress is being made across Africa where two-thirds of all HIV victims live.
The report said that in the past decade (2001 - 2009) new infections and deaths continent-wide had declined by 25 percent.
South African Deputy-Health Minister Gwen Ramakgopa called it significant progress.
"We are encouraged that particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, including in our country South Africa, we are seeing the dawn of a new era where we are starting to halt the epidemic and indeed we need to consolidate⁸ our efforts so that we can get into a phase of the reversal," she said.
But UNAIDS Regional Director Sheila Tlou said the battle was not over and warned against complacency.
"Even though the number of HIV infections is decreasing, there is still a need for prevention, because there are two new HIV infections for every one person that is put on HIV treatment," said Tlou.
Heywood believes the global fight against HIV is at a pivotal point. "Many gains of the last decade have been driven by activism, by people with HIV standing⁹, making themselves seen, making themselves heard, by HIV being cast as a moral issue globally, as an issue of inequality. But I fear that approach has run out of steam, not that it has run out of legitimacy," he said.
Activists say global politics and economics are more complex now and they fear a loss of momentum¹⁰ and political commitment along with a decline in funds due to the ongoing¹¹ financial crisis.

1 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。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 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》

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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》

8 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。