VOA标准英语2009年-World AIDS Day - Ongoing Stigma Hinder

New UN research shows number of new AIDS cases decreasing worldwide, says HIV prevention programs are making the difference. But fear of HIV still shrouds¹ the virus in secrecy², barring path to more comprehensive prevention

Selah Hennessy | London 30 November 2009

People gather to mark World AIDS Day, 30 Nov 2009, in Taipei, Taiwan

"For us who are infected, there is still stigma³, you know. There is still a lot of people who cannot come out and say, 'I am HIV-positive', because they wonder what the reaction will be."

Marking World AIDS Day (December 1) this year, the U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS has published new research that shows the number of new AIDS cases decreasing worldwide, and it says HIV prevention programs are making the difference.  The fear of HIV still shrouds the virus in secrecy and bars the path to more comprehensive prevention.

Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma, of Ugandan descent, lives in London.  She was in her twenties when she found out she was HIV positive.  The news turned her life upside down.

"Shock was the main feeling at that time, and I thought you know what do I do now?  Am I going to live for a long time, am I going to die, what is going to happen to me now?" She asked.

For many years she did not tell her friends and family that she was HIV positive.  During that time her brother died of HIV.  She says before she was ready to open up about her HIV status, she first had to come to terms with the shame she felt.

"I had to access counseling to deal with some of my fears, to deal with some of the shame that I felt at that particular time.  And once, you know, I was able to deal with that, then I was able to talk about my HIV status," Sseruma added.

An activist⁴ walks inside a ball in downtown Cologne, Germany, on 03 Nov 2009 as part of campaign to demonstrate how isolated⁵ from society an HIV/Aids infected person can feel

She says many people fear they may be shunned⁶ if their HIV-status is in the open.
 
"For us who are infected, there is still stigma, you know.  There is still a lot of people who cannot come out and say, 'I am HIV-positive', because they wonder what the reaction will be," she said.

Today, 33 million people are living with HIV, which causes AIDS, or with the disease itself.

A new report says Africa is still the hardest hit.  But it also says the number of new HIV infections is decreasing, and the United Nations says that is a sign that prevention is working.

But in Uganda, the country of Sseruma's family, six percent of the population is HIV positive.

Sseruma says those figures will not be cut until the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS is broken down.

Marc Thompson is from the Britain-based AIDS campaign group The Terence Higgins Trust.  He works with HIV-positive people in London's African community and agrees HIV stigma is a major problem.

"What we have certainly seen is that if there is stigma and discrimination, and if there is broadly stigma, people are fearful and are less willing to come forward and be tested," he said.

He says if HIV-positive people are not tested, they are more likely to pass on the virus to sexual partners and from mother to child.  Thompson says the stigma surrounding HIV is particularly high in London's African community.

"So it is about trying to overcome that barrier, it is trying to work with faith leaders so they no longer think that sex is just a taboo⁷ and that HIV and AIDS is revenge from God for promiscuity," he said.

With millions of HIV-positive people taking anti-retroviral drugs, AIDS no longer has to be a death warrant.   But with less than half of HIV-positive people in Africa receiving treatment, experts say prevention is key to fighting the HIV epidemic⁸.

Dr. Ade Fakoya is a physician and advisor⁹ at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.

"Prevention always gets less of a deal than treatment and that is a shame because for every five new infections, we are only able to get two on treatment, so we clearly have to focus on prevention," said Fakoya.

But prevention is given short shrift in many countries dealing¹⁰ with the disease.  In Swaziland only 17 percent of the 2008 total AIDS budget was spent on prevention - despite a national HIV prevalence rate of 26 percent.

For HIV-positive Sseruma, breaking down the stigma surrounding HIV will be a major step towards prevention.

"I have decided¹¹ that HIV is not sort of going to take over my life and I am not going to allow people to stigmatize¹² me," she said.  "I talk about HIV publicly, I live with it the best way I know how, I share my experiences with people and help others in my situation and I try to educate others about HIV," she added.

According to the United Nation's 2009 AIDS epidemic update, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2008.  And two-million people died of AIDS-related illness.   In sub-Saharan Africa the number of new HIV cases has declined by about 15 percent since 2001.
 

1 shrouds   

n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密

参考例句：

• 'For instance,' returned Madame Defarge, composedly,'shrouds.' “比如说，”德伐日太太平静地回答，“裹尸布。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• Figure 3-10 illustrates the result of a study or conical shrouds. 图3-10表明了对锥形外壳的研究结果。 来自辞典例句

2 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

3 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。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

8 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。

9 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 stigmatize   

v.污蔑，玷污

参考例句：

• Children in single-parent families must not be stigmatized.单亲家庭的孩子们不应该受到歧视。
• They are often stigmatized by the rest of society as lazy and dirty.他们经常被社会中的其他人污蔑为懒惰、肮脏。