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VOA慢速英语2012 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Eight Million People Now Being Treated for HIV

时间:2012-08-23 03:25:22

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Eight Million People Now Being Treated for HIV

BARBARA KLEIN: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Barbara Klein.

MARIO RITTER: And I’m Mario Ritter. The nineteenth International AIDS Conference took place last month in Washington, DC. More than twenty thousand people attended the six-day event. Today, we tell about some of the latest developments in the fight against AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes the disease.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: More than eight million people around the world are now receiving antiretroviral drug therapy. That is a twenty percent increase over the past year. All those receiving the treatment have the human immunodeficiency virus, known as HIV.

The Joint1 United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS released a report before the AIDS conference. The report is called “Together We Will End AIDS.” It says almost one point four million people were added to the number of people receiving treatment in last year alone.

More than thirty-four million people are now living with HIV. The report says that is the largest number ever, because of the greater availability of life-saving drugs. But about two-point-five million people were newly-infected with the virus last year.

MARIO RITTER: Michel Sidibe is the head of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, also called UNAIDS.

MICHEL SIDIBE: “I personally believe that it is a new era -- new era for treatment, new era for prevention. But it is also from my personal reading a beginning of a journey to getting to zero.”

Michel Sidibe says the world is now in a time of shared responsibility, mutual2 accountability and global solidarity3. He says those issues will influence the discussion about HIV/AIDS in the coming years.

International spending for the fight against HIV reached almost seventeen billion dollars last year. Mr. Sidibe says the money was spent effectively.

MICHEL SIDIBE: “We are talking more and more of cost- effectiveness, efficiency, reducing unit costs of producing any results. We are trying to make sure that the framework, investment framework, we are using with the countries becomes smarter.”

BARBARA KLEIN: Many countries have greatly increased their own investment in fighting the disease. Spending by individual countries is now greater than international spending for the first time. For example, South Africa spent two billion dollars last year in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Much of the international aid for treatment, research and prevention comes from PEPFAR -- the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis4 and Malaria5.

Eric Goosby is the United States’ Global AIDS Coordinator6. He also leads PEPFAR.

ERIC GOOSBY: “Our resource allocation and prioritization -- shifts that over the last three years we have aggressively tried to institute in our PEPFAR programs -- have begun to show the fruit of that labor7. Moving to high risk populations - targeting key populations -- to ensure that they are identified in a safe setting, in a safe space, to allow them to be entered and retained in care over time.”

PEPFAR works with national governments to create programs for their people.

ERIC GOOSBY: “I think that the numbers that UNAIDS is presenting to the world reassure8 me that we are positioned to know, monitor and understand the data as it comes in. And we have moved I think over the last few years to be much more nimble in our ability to reposition our programming.”

MARIO RITTER: But there is still much work to be done. UNAIDS says billions of dollars more will be needed for the fight against HIV/AIDS. The UN group says one point seven million people died from AIDS-related causes last year. That is twenty-four percent fewer deaths than in two thousand five, when the number of deaths was at its highest.

Tuberculosis -- or TB -- is the number one cause of death among people living with HIV. People suffering from HIV/AIDS have weakened natural defenses for fighting disease. That increases their likelihood of getting TB. 

BARBARA KLEIN: People between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four are responsible for forty percent of all new adult HIV infections. Most of those infections are among young women. Studies have shown that many young people do not know how to prevent HIV infection.

Many of those infected in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe do not have access to treatment. And infections are increasing among sex workers, men who have sex with men and users of intravenous drugs. 

But UNAIDS says efforts are continuing to have fifteen million people on treatment by twenty-fifteen. We have placed a link to the UN report on our website, www.voanews.cn.

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER: The World Health Organization says developing countries need a full plan of action for treating HIV. WHO officials say some groups of people are still unable to get the treatments they need.

Studies have shown that antiretroviral drugs extend the lives of people infected with HIV. The drugs can also prevent infection. This means countries may be able to slow the spread of AIDS. But some of those most in need of HIV treatment and prevention are unable to get them because of their social standing9.

Gottfried Hirnschall is the director of the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS Department.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “We’ve seen in many countries that there remains10 stigma11 against certain population groups. And in some countries these behaviors of these groups are criminalized. Being a sex worker in many African countries is criminal behavior. Being an MSN in some countries is criminalized and obviously injection drug use is.”

The expression MSN means men who have sex with men. These men are one of the groups most at risk of infection.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “We see barriers for these individuals to access services. And we obviously see that as a consequence in many places these groups have higher infection rates. They have higher mortality, etcetera.”

BARBARA KLEIN: Another part of the fight against HIV/AIDS is the question of when to start treatment. In the early days of antiretrovirals, the drugs were usually given to people when the body’s defenses against disease had collapsed12. A person’s health is measured by the CD4 count. That is the number of immune system cells a person has.

Dr. Hirnschall says, in recent years, doctors have suggested that people start on treatment much earlier.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “If you start as soon as possible -- and that’s what’s happening now in the U.S. with the policy change that just took place -- you may have a benefit to the patient. WHO now recommends initiation13 of treatment below a CD4 cell count of 350, which means that the immune system has already some signs of weakening, but that the patient is still not very sick yet.”

The WHO official says many infections could be avoided by giving treatment earlier.

MARIO RITTER: Two recent studies have confirmed the effectiveness of what is being called the “treatment as prevention” plan. One study involved what researchers call discordant14 couples, where one person has HIV and the other does not. The study found that drugs were ninety-six percent effective in preventing the spread of the virus.

The second study showed the effectiveness of giving drugs to people who were not infected.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “Even if you give drugs prior to exposure - in other words to HIV-negative persons -- referred to as pre-exposure prophylaxis -- you may also protect this person from becoming infected. So the whole field of the use of anti-retrovirals has become more and more exciting, but at the same time more complex.”

Dr. Hirnschall says it would cost more in the short-term to put more people on anti-retrovirals sooner -- probably billions more. But he says, in the long-term, the cost will drop and lives will be saved.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “You will have quite impressive reductions of both mortality and new infections. So we estimate over a period until twenty-twenty more than twelve million new infections could be averted15 and seven point four million deaths could be also averted. So in other words, yes, you need to invest. You need to frontload the resources, but you’re buying something for it.”

Dr. Hirnschall says the World Health Organization is writing rules to help developing countries care for and treat those most at risk of infection.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: Two other studies found that anti-AIDS drugs may protect HIV-negative individuals against the deadly virus. The studies involved couples in Kenya and Uganda. One partner was infected with HIV and the other was not. 

The testing lasted from two thousand eight to two thousand ten. The study showed a sixty-seven to seventy-five percent reduced risk of infection in the non-infected partner. That was in comparison to those who took a placebo16 or harmless substance.

However, a third study showed no difference in protection. Those tests involved women in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by VOA reporter Joe De Capua. It was adapted into Special English and produced by Christopher Cruise. I’m Mario Ritter.

BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America. 

--

Contributing: Joe De Capua


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 joint m3lx4     
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合
参考例句:
  • I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤,肩膀脫臼了。
  • We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
2 mutual eFOxC     
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
参考例句:
  • We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
  • Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
3 solidarity ww9wa     
n.团结;休戚相关
参考例句:
  • They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
  • The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。
4 tuberculosis bprym     
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。
5 malaria B2xyb     
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。
6 coordinator Gvazk6     
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?
7 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
8 reassure 9TgxW     
v.使放心,使消除疑虑
参考例句:
  • This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点,于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
  • The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。
9 standing 2hCzgo     
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 remains 1kMzTy     
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。
11 stigma WG2z4     
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。
12 collapsed cwWzSG     
adj.倒塌的
参考例句:
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
13 initiation oqSzAI     
n.开始
参考例句:
  • her initiation into the world of marketing 她的初次涉足营销界
  • It was my initiation into the world of high fashion. 这是我初次涉足高级时装界。
14 discordant VlRz2     
adj.不调和的
参考例句:
  • Leonato thought they would make a discordant pair.里奥那托认为他们不适宜作夫妻。
  • For when we are deeply mournful discordant above all others is the voice of mirth.因为当我们极度悲伤的时候,欢乐的声音会比其他一切声音都更显得不谐调。
15 averted 35a87fab0bbc43636fcac41969ed458a     
防止,避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 ); 转移
参考例句:
  • A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
  • Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙,才避免了麻烦。
16 placebo placebo     
n.安慰剂;宽慰话
参考例句:
  • The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
  • The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

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