全球抗艾形势出现重大转折
The world has passed a tipping point in the fight against Aids, according to data showing that more people gained access to HIV drugs last year than became infected with the virus.
国际社会抗击艾滋病(Aids)的斗争走过了一个转折点。数据显示，去年，接受抗艾滋病病毒(HIV)药物治疗的人数超过了感染这种病毒的人数。This marks the first time since antiretroviral medicines were introduced 27 years ago that treatment of HIV has expanded at a higher rate than the incidence of the virus itself.
这是自27年前抗逆转录病毒药物问世以来，接受抗艾滋病病毒治疗的人数首次超过艾滋病病毒感染的人数。
“We’re not saying the end of Aids is near but we have reached an important milestone where, for the first time, we are getting ahead of the disease,” said Erin Hohlfelder, health policy director for One, an anti-poverty group that highlights the watershed in a report to mark today’s World Aids Day.
扶贫组织One的卫生政策主任埃琳•霍尔菲尔德(Erin Hohlfelder)表示：“我们并不是说艾滋病即将被消灭，但我们已经达到了一个重要的里程碑，我们第一次跑在了艾滋病前面。”今日是世界艾滋病日(World Aids Day)，在一份纪念这个日子的报告中，该组织强调了这个转折点。
In 2013 – the most recent year for which data are available – 2.3m people were added to treatment programmes compared with 2.1m new infections.
2013年，有230万人开始接受抗艾滋病病毒治疗，而新增艾滋病病毒感染者为210万人。目前还拿不到2014年的数据。This marked an improvement from the year before when 1.6m people gained access to medicines for the first time while 2.2m were newly infected.
上述数据标志着，去年的情况较前年有所改善。前年，有160万人首次接受药物治疗，而新增感染者为220万人。Antiretroviral drugs now reach 13.6m people around the world, but this still represents less than half the estimated 35m people living with HIV.
目前，全球累计有1360万人得到抗逆转录病毒药物治疗，但这个数字仍不到艾滋病病毒携带者人数的一半，后者估计有3500万人。Ms Hohlfelder warned there was a long way to go before victory could be declared. “We’ve passed the tipping point globally but not all countries are there yet, and the gains made can easily stall or unravel,” she said.
霍尔菲尔德警告称，现在还远不到宣布胜利的时候。她说：“就全球而言，我们确实走过了这个转折点，但并非对所有国家都是如此。而且，我们取得的进展很容易陷入停滞或付诸东流。”Global funding for anti-HIV programmes reached $19.1bn last year but this is still below the annual $22bn-$24bn the UN says is needed.
去年，全球用于抗艾滋病病毒的资金达到191亿美元，但仍低于联合国(UN)认为需要达到的水平，即每年220亿至240亿美元。Ms Hohlfelder said middle-income countries were beginning to contribute more but the three leading donors – the US, France and the UK – were carrying an “unsustainable” share of the burden.
霍尔菲尔德表示，中等收入国家开始捐出更多资金，但三个主要捐助国（美国、法国和英国）目前的负担比例是“不可持续”的。“Many donor countries – such as Australia, Japan and some in the Middle East – really haven’t stepped up as much as we’d have liked.”
“很多捐助国——例如澳大利亚、日本及中东一些国家——的前进速度的确还赶不上我们的期望。”Activists and health officials warn against the risk of complacency when HIV is becoming seen in the developed world as a manageable chronic disease because of the potential for people to live an almost normal lifespan on the latest antiretroviral drugs.
由于最新的抗逆转录病毒药物使得艾滋病病毒感染者的预期寿命有可能逼近正常人的水平，艾滋病在发达国家正慢慢地被视为一种可控的慢性病，但活动人士和卫生官员警告称，要提防可能出现的自满情绪。They say HIV remains one of the gravest health threats across much of the developing world, especially Africa, which has almost 70 per cent of cases.
他们说，在许多发展中国家，艾滋病病毒依然是对人类健康的最严重威胁之一，特别是在非洲，那里的感染者占全球的近70%。More rapid gains may be hard to achieve as the virus becomes concentrated among hard-to-reach groups, such as sex workers and drug users, as well as gay people and youths who may shun testing and treatment.
随着某些难以触及的群体成为这种病毒的主要感染者，比如性工作者和吸毒者、以及可能躲避检测和治疗的同性恋人群和青年，可能很难取得更多的快速进展。Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAids, which leads the global response to HIV, says a push is needed to meet a target to end the epidemic by 2030. “We have bent the trajectory of the epidemic. Now we have five years to break it for good or risk the epidemic rebounding out of control.”
领导全球抗击艾滋病的联合国艾滋病规划署(UNAids)的执行主任米歇尔•西迪贝(Michel Sidibé)说，要实现到2030年时结束艾滋病疫情的目标，需要发动一场大规模攻势。“我们已经改变了这一疫情的发展轨迹。现在，我们有五年的时间来永久性地挫败它，否则疫情可能会反弹至失控的程度。”Pharmaceutical companies, once pilloried for keeping HIV drugs out of reach of the poor, have lent support to the effort by licensing their medicines for generic manufacturers to make at a low cost in the developing world.
某些制药公司曾因把穷人挡在抗艾滋病病毒药物治疗的大门之外而受到公众的嘲笑。现在，它们已通过授权发展中国家的仿制药厂商以较低成本生产它们的药物，来支持抗击艾滋病的努力。AbbVie today became the fifth big company to grant a licence for generic production to the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool, following Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Roche and ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture between GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.
今日，艾伯维(AbbVie)成为第五家授予联合国资助的药品专利池组织(MPP)仿制药生产许可的大公司。此前已签署许可协议的企业包括百时美施贵宝(Bristol-Myers Squibb)、吉利德科学公司(Gilead Sciences)、罗氏(Roche)，以及葛兰素史克(GSK)和辉瑞(Pfizer)的合资公司ViiV Healthcare。The agreement with AbbVie involves two antiretrovirals formulated for paediatric use and helps address a shortage of treatments suitable for the 3.2m children with HIV in the world.
艾伯维与药品专利池组织签署的协议包括两种为儿科使用配制的抗逆转录病毒药物，可帮助缓解儿童适用药物短缺的问题。全球有320万儿童感染了艾滋病病毒。AbbVie’s lopinavir and ritonavir drugs will be available to generic producers in the 102 countries where almost all children with HIV live.
102个国家的仿制药厂商将可生产艾伯维的洛匹那韦(lopinavir)和利托那韦(ritonavir)药物。几乎所有感染了艾滋病病毒的儿童都生活在这102个国家。“This is a crucial licence for paediatric programmes in resource-limited countries,” said Greg Perry, executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool.
药品专利池组织执行主任格雷格•佩里(Greg Perry)说：“这对资源有限国家的儿科治疗计划而言是一项关键的授权。”
