2006年VOA标准英语-Meeting on AIDS Looks to Law Reform to Hal

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
16 February 2006

A meeting of United Nations AIDS officials, government representatives and activists¹ in Thailand has urged Asian countries to reform laws to reduce the spread of the AIDS virus among marginalized groups such as sex workers and injecting drug users.

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Currently eight million people live with HIV/AIDS in Asia, half of them in India. In the past year more than one million new HIV infections were reported in the region, with China recording² almost 200 new cases a day.

At the three-day meeting in Thailand, which ended Thursday, UNAIDS director, Michel Sidibe, said law reform is needed to reduce discrimination against high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men and injecting drug users.

"It is legal and policy reform which is urgently needed to make sure that these issues could be addressed also from the perspective of the human rights standard," Sidibe said.

China says it has about 650,000 people living with AIDS. It has recently issued comprehensive regulations spelling out the rights and obligations of infected people in a bid to halt discrimination and improve the fight against the disease.

But Don Baxter, executive director for the Australian Federation³ of AIDS Organizations, says Asian countries often fail to adequately support marginalized groups with a high proportion of AIDS carriers.

Baxter says governments need to have genuine community and civil society participation⁴ in their responses. He says political leaders in Asia are often reluctant to openly discuss issues such as homosexuality and drug use.

"Many Asian and Pacific Governments - particularly the former communist governments - are just not used to opposition⁵ - whether it's behind closed doors or in public," Baxter said. "So that's certainly a major lesson or direction Asian and Pacific governments need to move in - listening to people actually affected⁶ by HIV."
 
Asia's tough stance on drug users and the trafficking of opiates often means programs such as promoting needle exchange to avoid the spread of AIDS among injecting drug users get little support.

The meeting in Thailand also looked at methods of lowering the cost in Asia of anti-retroviral drugs needed to slow the progress of the virus or prevent mother to child transmission.

The meeting, attended by over 200 delegates from over 20 countries, was organized by UNAIDS as a step towards achieving its goal of universal access to AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.

The goal was set after G8 group of industrialized nations pledged $50 billion to developing countries to deal with the pandemic.

The United Nations General Assembly is due to meet in July in a special session to assess the program's progress since its launch in 2001.

1 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》

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 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。