2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Seeks Increased Funding for Internati

By David McAlary
Washington
09 February 2006
 

Report cover  
  
The Bush administration is asking Congress for a 25 percent increase in funding for its emergency global HIV/AIDS program for 2007. The State Department says the number of people it is helping¹ reached 42 million last year, although critics say not enough is being done.

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The State Department has released its second annual report on the president's AIDS relief plan, saying U.S. leadership is making a tremendous difference in the fight against the disease.

It shows that the government is asking Congress to allocate² $4 billion on the program next year, up from $3.2 billion this year. President Bush launched the plan in 2003, pledging a total of $15 billion over five years to combat HIV in 15 of the hardest hit countries of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
 

Condoleezza Rice (file photo)   
  
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the plan supported 42 million people in 2005 with prevention programs, treatment, and care. She notes that number of people getting anti-AIDS medicines under it is more than nine times higher than at the start of the policy.

"Two years ago, only 50,000 people in all of Sub-Saharan Africa had access to antiretroviral treatment," she said. "By the end of last year, the Emergency Plan had expanded treatment in that region to 400,000 people plus an additional 71,000 individuals worldwide."

Rice adds that U.S.-supported HIV care reached nearly three million people last year, while more than nine million received counseling and testing services. Three million women got advice on how to prevent transmitting the virus to their newborns. The U.S. government estimates that more than 41,000 infant infections were prevented.

A spokesman for the Global AIDS Alliance in Washington, David Bryden, says the government's report contains some good news. But he argues that the progress is far short of the promise Mr. Bush has made at industrial nation summits of ensuring universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010.

"There is some good news today, but there are some ways in which the report really bends the facts in terms of, for instance, how the U.S. program is meeting the needs of children," he said. "Still relatively³ few children are receiving help through the president's program. Only two percent of global AIDS funding goes to orphans⁴ and vulnerable children, and that is something that really should change."

Bryden also says the President Bush is seeking a 45 percent cut in the American contribution next year to the Global Fund, a international agency set up to provide money for AIDS, tuberculosis⁵, and malaria⁶ programs.

But the government's report points out the United States remains⁷ the largest single contributor to the agency.

It adds that spending for condom use and birth control measures under the president's emergency plan rose substantially last year over 2004, although many of the Bush administration's conservative political supporters oppose those protective methods. The deputy U.S. Global AIDS coordinator⁸, Mark Dybul, says support for abstinence and marital⁹ fidelity¹⁰ has also increased as part of the so-called ABC policy - Abstinence, Being faithful, and Condoms.

"So condom dollars have gone up, the supply of condoms from the United States hag one up dramatically since 2001," he said. "In fact, just going from 2004 to 2005, we had a great increase in dollars for condoms than abstinence and fidelity. But we have a balanced approach. Those condoms are now provided in the context of what we know works, which is A, B, and C."

The Bush administration's report says people are alive today because the United States has turned its words into action.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 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。

5 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

6 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

7 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。

8 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？

9 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

10 fidelity   

n.忠诚，忠实；精确

参考例句：

• There is nothing like a dog's fidelity.没有什么能比得上狗的忠诚。
• His fidelity and industry brought him speedy promotion.他的尽职及勤奋使他很快地得到晋升。