VOA标准英语2012--Stanford Study Gives US Global AIDS Program High Marks

 

Stanford Study Gives US Global AIDS Program High Marks

In 2003, President Bush launched PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS, to combat the AIDS pandemic in developing countries.

"With the approval of Congress, we'll devote $15 billion to fight AIDS abroad over the next five years, beginning with $2 billion in the year 2004," Bush said.

Much of the money went to relieve the suffering of AIDS victims in sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of the pandemic.

The U.S. Global AIDS coordinator¹ who oversees² PEPFAR is Ambassador Eric Goosby. He recalls what it was like before the program was launched.

"AIDS was wiping out a generation and reversing health gains in Africa. At that time, AIDS threatened the foundations of society," Goosby said.

Today a positive AIDS test no longer means certain death. Ambassador Goosby says it's almost impossible to overstate the U.S. contribution to fighting the AIDS pandemic. Former President Bush has called PEPFAR the greatest achievement of his presidency³. A new Standford University assessment⁴ says PEPFAR has been essential to slowing the spread of HIV.

"On a global scale, about two thirds of all the people who live with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa," said Dr. Eran Bendavid, who led the research.

Dr. Bendavid and other researchers studied more than a million and a half people in 27 African countries. Nine of these countries had partnership⁵ agreements with PEPFAR. 

"A lot of times, there are concerns that foreign aid disappears somewhere in the path between the coffers in Washington and the recipients⁶ on the ground," Bendavid said.

PEPFAR funded HIV education, prevention and treatment. And, the researchers found, the aid actually got to the people who needed it.

"We estimate that in those nine countries, during that period between 2004 and 2008, about 740,000 adults did not die in association with the program," said Bendavid.

Ambassador Goosby describes the impact he believes PEPFAR has had. Before its implementation⁷, he says, hospitals were overcrowded with people dying from AIDS. 

"I was in many hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa where you'd have an open ward⁸ and you'd have four or five people having grand-mal seizures⁹ happening at the same time. That was a very typical picture. That isn't happening any more," Goosby said.

Ambassador Goosby says most AIDS patients are now treated earlier, as outpatients, before opportunistic infections can set in.

One of the criticisms of PEPFAR is that it siphoned money away from research on other diseases and their treatments. But the Stanford University study found that in countries served by PEPFAR, people without HIV were also doing better.

"The mortality reduction was, if anything, larger in the general population than in the HIV-infected population," Bendavid said.

His research team did not look into why this happened, but Dr. Bendavid believes it could have been the result of improvements in the healthcare system, or because those in better health were able to care for those still in need.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

1 coordinator   

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？

2 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 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。

6 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

8 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

9 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句