VOA标准英语2014--艾滋病2014墨尔本宣言公布

 

Melbourne Declaration Released 艾滋病2014墨尔本宣言公布

The world’s largest gathering¹ on HIV/AIDS will be held in July in Melbourne, Australia. The theme of the 20th International AIDS Conference – also known as AIDS 2014 – is Nobody Left Behind. Organizers have issued the Melbourne Declaration.

Since the AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2000, conference organizers have released declarations several months prior to the event.

Chris Beyrer, professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and president-elect of the International AIDS Society, said there are several reasons why declarations are issued.

“Certainly, the first is, as in the case with the Durban Declaration, that there are often compelling issues facing the field and facing everyone living with HIV and people working on HIV, that really demand international attention. So the conference provides a platform, a spotlight² on the global epidemic³. And so we use the conference declarations to really highlight those issues,” he said.

The Melbourne Declaration affirms that “non-discrimination is fundamental to an evidence-based, rights-based and gender⁴ transformative response to HIV and effective public health programs.”

Beyrer sais, “There has been a wave of new anti-gay, discriminatory laws and policies in a number of countries -- the recent laws in Russia --the new laws that were passed in Nigeria in 2013 and in Uganda just recently – which really are a threat to access to care for people living with HIV and for sexual and gender minorities more broadly.”

AIDS 2014 organizers said such laws exist in over 80 countries.

“The motivation for this current declaration is really to say the HIV response has always been about universal access – about non-discrimination and about working with affected⁵ people and communities. That’s always been who we are, and that’s why we’ve had the successes that we’ve had. And so, we’re really trying to use the conference to highlight that we see these laws as really a dangerous trend in the wrong direction,” said Beyrer.

Many of the laws against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders have their roots in colonialism. But Beyrer said the new law in Nigeria takes discrimination further.

“It was not illegal, for example, to organize meetings, to have discussions, to do outreach for folks at risk, for gay and other men who have sex with men. The new law criminalizes all those behaviors. So, for example, [it] makes it illegal to organize a public health meeting to discuss these issues. It makes it illegal to do outreach and provide services.”

The effect, he said, is to quickly cut off access to life-saving HIV services.

“Untreated HIV is still fatal. So when you talk about reducing people’s access to care, this is not trivial. This is a life or death matter,” he said.

While the U.S. Great Britain and others have moved toward expanding gays rights, including same sex marriage, some former British colonies are going in the opposite direction. Some of the anti-gay laws have the support of American evangelical groups.

One minister, Scott Lively, has been active in Uganda and Russia, for example. He’s currently being sued in Massachusetts by an American group representing sexual minorities in Uganda. The suit accuses Lively of crimes against humanity. Lively’s attorney said his client’s preaching against homosexuality is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

In 2013, The U.S. Supreme⁶ Court struck down as unconstitutional what’s known as the Anti-Prostitution Pledge as it relates to U.S. NGOs. It required that NGOs receiving federal funds to combat HIV and trafficking adopt a policy opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. However, the Supreme Court said it violated the First Amendment⁷ right of free speech. But, the ruling did not apply to foreign NGOs receiving such funds.

The International AIDS Society President-Elect said many who sell sex do so consensually and consider it their everyday job. They oppose the Anti-Prostitution Pledge. Professor Beyrer said the language surrounding the issue has caused problems.

“We have had some conflation, I think, in language and terminology⁸ around, for example, trafficking of persons and sexual exploitation with sex work that, I think, broadly speaking has not been helpful in terms of trying to provide services to people and really understand who is a coerced⁹ person who really needs protection? And who is a consenting a consenting adult, who is choosing to sell sex?”

He added that when sexworkers are organized and managers of commercial sex they can actually help control the spread of HIV.

“They do a very good job of promoting condom use -- of STD care and treatment access. And when they’re organized this goes rather well. When you talk to the communities about what it is that they want, they want sex work to be understood as work. They want access to care and services. They want to be able to be organized and they of course want protection from violence, which is a major issue,” he said.

Instead, he said, crackdowns and exploitation drive sexwork underground where protection against HIV is lacking. There’s no indication the Anti-Prostitution Pledge will be repealed¹⁰ by the U.S.

In 2016, the International AIDS Conference returns to Durban, South Africa, where it was last held in 2000. It was the first time the meeting was held in a developing country and the last time it was in Africa. At the time, organizers issued the Durban Declaration, which said HIV caused AIDS. It was aimed at then South African President Thabo Mbeki, who had refused to accept that a virus was the cause of the epidemic.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 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。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 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。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

9 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 repealed   

撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Labour Party repealed the Act. 工党废除了那项法令。
• The legislature repealed the unpopular Rent Act. 立法机关废除了不得人心的租借法案。