2006年VOA标准英语-AIDS-Related Deaths in Thailand Down as Go

By Scott Bobb
Bangkok
04 January 2006

In Thailand, the number of deaths due to the AIDS virus fell in 2005 to one-third its level the previous year because of growing access to special anti-AIDS drugs. Thai officials say the total number of new infections also declined but are concerned about new infections among teenagers and homosexuals.

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HIV/AIDS patient, rests at Phra Baht Nam Phu AIDS hospice near Lopburi, Thailand  
  

Thai officials say the number of AIDS-related deaths declined from more than 5,000 in 2004 to 1600 last year and the number of HIV-positive people who developed full-blown AIDS declined by one-fourth to fewer than 10,000.

The Director of the Ministry¹ of Health's Disease Control Department, Thawat Suntharacharn, says the decline is largely due to a program that began in late 2004 to provide anti-retroviral, or ARV, drugs to all HIV sufferers through the kingdom's public health scheme.

Dr. Thawat says of the one-half million HIV cases in Thailand, 200,000 would benefit from the expensive cocktail² of anti-retroviral medicines. He says 50,000 received them last year and his department hopes to double that number in 2006.

"We try to give them all the ARV drugs by the next two years. But right now for this year (2006), we try to increase the access rate for ARV (by) about 50 percent," he said.

The Disease Control Center has also announced that new infections of HIV declined in Thailand by about 10 percent to 18,000 last year. However, Dr. Thawat says the department is concerned that many of the new cases are among teenagers.

"We still have some problems about the teenagers, particularly the girls right now, because of the unsafe sex by the teenager," he explained.

He says most new AIDS cases in Thailand last year were among teenagers and homosexuals, but added that drug users and sex workers remain highly vulnerable groups.

Dr. Thawat says the use of condoms remains³ the best way to prevent the disease and the Thai government last year distributed 24 million condoms to high risk groups.

Thailand experienced a major AIDS epidemic⁴ beginning in the 1980s and new infections reached 140,000 in 1991. However, public awareness⁵ and condom distribution programs, supported by the government and civic⁶ groups, has since dramatically reduced the rate.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

3 remains   

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。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。