VOA标准英语2012--Burmese AIDS Patients Face Treatment Obstacles
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(九月)
Burmese AIDS Patients Face Treatment Obstacles
Burma's largest supernatural spirit festival [Nat festival] takes place annually 1 in a small town outside of Mandalay called Taungbyone, attracting animists, including many members of the gay community, from all over the country for a week of celebrations and offerings.
About one percent of Burma's population is HIV positive. Among high-risk groups, such as men who have sex with men, health workers estimate as many as 11 percent have HIV. “Casper” is one health worker trying to curb 2 infections.
"I want to give you a little test," said Casper, as he takes out a banana. "This is what we’ll use for the test."
Free testing helps awareness 3
Casper does counseling at a government clinic in Mandalay, and at the festival, where they offer free testing. He himself has AIDS, and he tells up to 200 people each year they are HIV positive.
“When I first see them, I ask them if they’re ready to hear the results of the test. If they’re ready, then I tell them," said Casper. "When I tell them, I observe their faces carefully, seeing whether there are any negative expressions on their faces. If I see a fallen face, then I disclose my own personal experiences.”
Most spirit mediums at the festival, known as nat kadaws, are gay, like Ko Chit Tae, who hails from Rangoon.
"HIV affects the gay community. It's highly likely among homosexuals having frequent unprotected sexual intercourse 5 with each other," he said.
Moving toward improved treatment
While Burma's National AIDS Plan has helped stem new infections, it offers almost no help for marginalized groups already living with HIV. Dr. Kyaw Soe, the ministry 6 of health's HIV officer for Mandalay Division, nevertheless recognizes the risks from not treating these groups.
"There may be laws against homosexuality, but if we look at it from a public health point of view, we have to help these people," Kyaw Soe.
The international medical humanitarian 7 group Doctors Without Borders provides 70 percent of the lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy treatment in all of Burma, also known as Myanmar. Duncan Bell is the group's Burma country director.
“I think the tragedy in Myanmar currently is there is the possibility to save people's lives and it's not being fully 4 taken by the international community. There is a treatment gap of 80,000 people, approximately, in need of lifesaving treatment," said Bell.
Because funding is low, no new patients in Burma will be able to receive the lifesaving drugs known as anti-retrovirals until 2014. In the meantime, they have Casper to console them.
- Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
- They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
- I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
- You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。
- 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。
- The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
- They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
- The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
- There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。
- 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。
- 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。