UN: More Support Needed to Reverse HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Asia

Delegates attending a United Nations meeting in Bangkok on HIV/AIDS in Asia say more work is needed to reverse the epidemic¹, including better prevention efforts and access to treatment.
Delegates to a meeting of 24 Asia-Pacific countries in Bangkok cited progress in the fight against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The U.N. program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, says epidemics² in the region appear stable. From 2001 to 2009 infection rates in India, Nepal and Thailand fell by more than 25 percent, while rates in Bangladesh and the Philippines increased by more than 25 percent.
One challenge is the lack of access to often expensive anti-retroviral treatments.
The regional director for the U.N. Children's Fund in East Asia and the Pacific, Anupama Rao Singh, says only 30 percent of adults and 44 percent of children who need the treatments are able to get them.
"HIV prevention services still fall short of the level required to reverse the course of HIV in the most populous³ part of the world. The larger issues of stigma⁴ and discrimination, outmoded legislations, inadequate⁵ domestic resource commitments and policies that do not adequately take account of equitable⁶ access, will remain barriers to effective prevention, treatment, care and support if they are left unaddressed," Singh said.
Singh says Asian heads of state need to better support HIV/AIDS programs.
UNAIDS says laws in Asia against same-sex relations and that criminalize drug addicts⁷ and sex workers undermine prevention and treatment programs, putting more people at risk of infection. The U.N. body says 19 countries still outlaw⁸ same-sex relations and 16 restrict travel for people infected with HIV.
Australian Ambassador for HIV Murray Proctor says greater financial commitments are needed for HIV-AIDS programs. "Long-term financing for the international HIV response is a major concern. In 2009 funding for HIV actually fell globally for the first time since 2002," Proctor said.
Last year countries pledged $11.7 billion for the global fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis⁹, and Malaria¹⁰.
Proctor called it a major increase, but said it still fell short of funding hopes.
The Asia-Pacific region is home to an estimated five million HIV-infected people, the second highest number in the world, after Sub-Saharan Africa.

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 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

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 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

6 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

7 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

8 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

9 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。

10 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。