HEALTH REPORT - AIDS Drugs in a Gel May Help Protect Women F

HEALTH REPORT - AIDS Drugs in a Gel May Help Protect Women From H.I.V.
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Two major drug companies have agreed to work with a non-profit group to develop new products to protect women from H.I.V. H.I.V. is the virus that causes AIDS.

The companies are Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb. They have signed separate agreements with the International Partnership¹ for Microbicides. That group is based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

 
The International Partnership for Microbicides supports ways to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS
The aim is to create products for women from new compounds² developed by the two companies. The products could include microbicide gels. The thick liquid would be placed into the vagina to reduce the spread of H.I.V. during sex.

The agreements will give the non-profit group the right to develop, manufacture³ and deliver the products to poor countries. The group says even a partially⁴ effective microbicide could prevent an estimated⁵ two and a half million H.I.V. infections over a period of three years.

The compounds are part of a new group of drugs known as H.I.V. entry inhibitors. They are designed to prevent human immunodeficiency virus from entering a cell.

A study in Nature magazine last month involved experimental⁶ gels made from entry inhibitor drugs. Researchers tested them on a group of monkeys. The monkeys received either one drug or a combination⁷ of drugs.

The researchers say the single drug protected most of the monkeys from a virus similar to H.I.V. But they say a combination of three drugs was effective in all three monkeys that they tested it on. Scientists from Cornell University and the Tulane National Primate⁸ Research Center led the study.

Worldwide, about half of adults with H.I.V. and AIDS are women. But the United Nations says women are victims of sixty percent of new infections. In southern Africa, seventy-five percent of the infected young people are women and girls.

The number of women and girls infected with H.I.V. has increased in every part of the world. Most of the infections are caused by sex between men and women. Many women do not have the power to demand that their partners use a condom.

The International Partnership for Microbicides says a vaginal gel could give women more control over their bodies. But researchers say it is still at least five years away.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 compounds   

n.场地( compound的名词复数 )；复合物；（筑有围墙的）院子；复合词v.调和( compound的第三人称单数 )；使混合；使严重；调停

参考例句：

• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That simply compounds the offence. 那只会加重罪过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 manufacture   

n.产品，制造，制造业；vt.制造，加工；vi.参与制造

参考例句：

• The equipment is of our own manufacture.这设备是我们自己制造的。
• Plastic is an important manufacture.塑料是种重要产品。

4 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

5 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

6 experimental   

adj.实验的，用作实验的，根据实验的

参考例句：

• This trip will be only experimental.这次旅行只是试验性的。
• The experimental farm is near the waterpower station.实验农场靠近水电站。

7 combination   

n.组合，合并，联合；

参考例句：

• He carried on the business in combination with his friends.他与朋友们合伙做生意。
• The materials can be used singly or in combination.这些材料可以单独使用也可以混合用。

8 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。