AIDS-Famine Link in Southern Africa Threatens Region

Broadcast: Jan 29 2003

 

Two senior U.N. officials warn the HIV/AIDS pandemic in southern Africa is changing the nature of ¹⁾famine in the region and is ²⁾unleashing a disaster that threatens the existence of some countries.

The director of the United Nations World Food Program, James Morris, said the size of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in southern Africa makes it unlike any other faced in recorded history. Mr. Morris, who is also the U.N. special envoy¹ to southern Africa, said the ³⁾pandemic is resulting in the premature² deaths of the region's most productive people, especially women, and is making future food shortages more likely.

"The bad news, the horrifying³ news, is that something very, very different than maybe the world has faced every before, is taking place. The issue, the impact of HIV/AIDS on this part of the world is enormous. Its impact on women and children [is] devastating," Mr. Morris said.

Mr. Morris and Stephen Lewis, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS, have just completed a tour of several countries in the region that were until recently threatened with famine. The officials wanted to assess the response of the humanitarian⁴ community to the emergency. They concluded that a large and rapid international effort has averted⁵ what could have been a huge drought-induced famine. But Mr. Lewis said they also discovered that underlying⁶ the food crisis was another, even more threatening one, HIV/AIDS.

"The sense of human destruction is positively⁷ surreal in this interlocking of AIDS and hunger. Death has become the ⁴⁾fulcrum of society it is everywhere evident. And if you think of it in the context of food shortages and hunger and AIDS there is a certain irony⁸ that the image of the society that comes to mind, is the grim reaper," Mr. Lewis said.

Mr. Lewis said it is the women of the region who are bearing the worst of the pandemic. "The women, above all the women. There has never been an historical precedent⁹ for what is happening to the women on this continent. It is the most ^5）ferocious assault on women that has ever been recorded. They are disproportionately vulnerable in huge numbers, and not only are they sick and dying, but they are burdened with the care of the society as a whole. They care for all others who are sick and dying, they care for orphans¹⁰, they are never recognized for the care they give, it is all considered voluntary when it is clearly conscripted and they do not get a penny's pay for what they do," Mr. Lewis said.

The United Nations said AIDS has already created 2.5 million orphans in the countries of southern Africa, with more than 11 million in all of sub-Saharan Africa. The officials say the pandemic could consume entire countries, and that it requires an unprecedented¹¹ response from the international community, and from the governments in the region. Mr. Lewis urged the South African government in particular to introduce an AIDS treatment program as soon as possible.

At the same time, the officials were upbeat about averting¹² the famine faced by over 15 million people in the southern Africa region. Mr. Morris said the response of the international community was swift, effective and generous.

"A serious humanitarian disaster has been averted. Through the extraordinary partnership¹³ and good work of governments, the NGOs, the U.N. community and the generosity¹⁴, the incredible generosity, of donors¹⁵, food has been put in place over the last several months in such a way that starvation and death has not occurred. And that is something to celebrate because when we started on our first mission the possibility of huge tragedy, of loss of life, was there," Mr. Morris said.

Mr. Morris said he thinks Lesotho, Malawi, and Zambia no longer face a food crisis, but he is less hopeful about Zimbabwe, where food shortages have been made worse by the government's land reform program, corruption¹⁶ and political repression¹⁷.

Delia Robertson VOA news, Johannesburg.

 

1)    famine[5fAmin]n.饥荒, <古>饥饿, 严重的缺乏

2)    unleash[5Qn5li:F]v.释放

3)    pandemic[pAn5demik]adj.全国流行的

4)    fulcrum[5fQlkrEm]n.杠杆支点, 权柱, 重心

5)    ferocious[fE5rEuFEs]adj.凶恶的, 残忍的, 凶猛的,十分强烈的, 极度的

 

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

3 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 averted   

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。

6 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

7 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

8 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

9 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

10 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。

13 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。

14 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

15 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

17 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。