2006年VOA标准英语-Health Conference Tackles Issues, Stigma of HIV

By Lisa Ferdinando
Miami
25 July 2006

Healthcare professionals are in Miami for a two-day conference on HIV/AIDS and the Latino population.  

Erik Estrada   
  
Latino actor Erik Estrada was a guest speaker at the 2006 National Conference on Latinos and AIDS.

He stressed the importance of educating the Latino community about HIV/AIDS and getting testing for the virus. Estrada sat down for an interview with VOA and talked about the importance of getting that message out to the Latino community.

"They need to be aware of themselves. They need to be educated. They need to be taught prevention. They need to be tested," he said. "They need to be more open about that it's here. It's a disease that is here and it's affecting many in the Hispanic population."

Another participant, Frank Oldham, is the executive director of the National Association of People with AIDS. He is HIV positive.

"There is too much stigma¹, negative connotations, around a positive diagnosis². So the result is that people who may be positive or who are more than likely positive either they don't want to get tested or they're afraid to access treatment and care," explained Oldham.

 
AIDS memorial quilts that were part of the backdrop at the event
  
The conference is for healthcare providers who work with Latinos, and is sponsored by Minority Healthcare Communications, a Pennsylvania-based non-profit healthcare education group.

Dr. Rhonda Hagler says more attention and federal dollars should go to treating drug abuse. She says people under the influence of drugs may engage in riskier³ sexual behavior that can spread HIV.

"Because we have not concentrated much on making sure we try to stem the tide of substance abuse, we continue to see the rates of HIV as they are right now in the Latino and African-American communities," she noted⁴.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says African Americans have been the hardest hit ethnic⁵ group in the United States by HIV/AIDS, making up half of those who were diagnosed as positive in 2004.

The CDC says the epidemic⁶ poses a serious threat to the Hispanic community as well. It says Hispanics made up 18 percent of those who were diagnosed with HIV-AIDS in 2004.

1 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

2 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

3 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 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。