传播再度加速 美对抗艾滋形势严峻
分类: 英语科普
The United States is losing ground again in its fight against AIDS with blacks, particularly African-American women, suffering most from the resurgent spread of the virus.
Health experts blame a lack of education resources while American adults are showing growing complacency to the risks they run.
The number of cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) fell by 50 percent from 1993 to 2001 before rising two percent in 2002, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which releases its latest figures Wednesday.
The number of deaths hit an annual peak of 52,000 in 1995 before seeing major falls with the advent of new medications. Those falls continued through 2001, but the following year saw a rise to 16,371 AIDS deaths, according to the CDC.
More than 500,000 people are now believed to have died from AIDS in the United States, with almost 900,000 estimated to be infected with the virus.
"It's a pretty bad situation," said Sherry Kaplan, coordinator for the Center for Positive Connection in Miami, a private help centre in one of the worst-hit regions of the United States.
"It's a tragedy that there is no wake-up call, that we have our own epidemic going on here in the US and the money isn't coming in, that there is no proper education prevention," added Kaplan, who has been HIV positive for 17 years.
Kaplan said that people now show "a more casual attitude" to sex because they believe medication will help them with AIDS.
Health experts blame a lack of education resources while American adults are showing growing complacency to the risks they run.
The number of cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) fell by 50 percent from 1993 to 2001 before rising two percent in 2002, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which releases its latest figures Wednesday.
The number of deaths hit an annual peak of 52,000 in 1995 before seeing major falls with the advent of new medications. Those falls continued through 2001, but the following year saw a rise to 16,371 AIDS deaths, according to the CDC.
More than 500,000 people are now believed to have died from AIDS in the United States, with almost 900,000 estimated to be infected with the virus.
"It's a pretty bad situation," said Sherry Kaplan, coordinator for the Center for Positive Connection in Miami, a private help centre in one of the worst-hit regions of the United States.
"It's a tragedy that there is no wake-up call, that we have our own epidemic going on here in the US and the money isn't coming in, that there is no proper education prevention," added Kaplan, who has been HIV positive for 17 years.
Kaplan said that people now show "a more casual attitude" to sex because they believe medication will help them with AIDS.
传播再度加速 美对抗艾滋形势严峻
美国健康专家日前指出，随着艾滋病病毒在黑人，特别是非洲裔美国黑人妇女中的迅速蔓延，美国对抗艾滋病的斗争形势再一次变得严峻起来。
据法新社11月30日报道，美国疾病控制与预防中心(CDC)的统计显示，目前美国各种族人群都面临着艾滋病蔓延加速的趋势，其中又以非洲裔美国妇女最为严重。近年来美国新感染艾滋病病例中，有50%以上为黑人，而其中又有72%是妇女。
数据还显示，在经过七八年的下降之后，美国艾滋病新增感染人数和死亡人数均在2002年出现了回升。从1993年到2001年，美国感染艾滋病人数总体下降了50%，而2002年又上升了2%；在出现新型治疗药物之前，美国死于艾滋病的人数在1995年达到了创纪录的5.2万人，之后到2001年死亡人数都呈现逐年下降的趋势，但2002年的死亡人数又出现回升，达到1.6万人。
自发现艾滋病病毒以来，美国死于艾滋病的人数累计已经超过50万人，感染人数累计约为90万人。
在该国艾滋病传播最为猖獗的地区之一——迈阿密，疾病控制中心驻当地协调员谢里·卡普兰认为，缺少必要的宣传提醒、相关资金不能到位，以及缺乏预防艾滋病的教育等，都是艾滋病病毒加速蔓延的主要原因。卡普兰说，现在的美国人对性有“一种更加漫不经心的态度”，因为他们相信药物治疗可以帮助他们对抗艾滋病。统计表明，近年来，在佛罗里达55岁以上感染艾滋病的人数上升了17%。