Premier Wen reaches out to AIDS children_社会生活

Premier Wen reaches out to AIDS children

文章来源：文章作者：发布时间：2006-12-04 02:14 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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Premier¹ Wen Jiabao invited 15 AIDS-affected children to the Chinese leadership's Beijing compound to play, sing and chat on World AIDS Day, which fell on Friday.

Dec. 2 - Premier Wen Jiabao invited 15 AIDS-affected children to the Chinese leadership's Beijing compound to play, sing and chat on World AIDS Day, which fell on Friday.

Before meeting the premier, the children two HIV positive and 13 orphaned² by the virus were given a tour of Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party, where generations of Chinese leaders have worked.

The children chatted and smiled as they walked through the office of former premier Zhou Enlai and the guest hall where Premier Wen Jiabao meets foreign guests.The children presented Wen their drawings, in which they pictured their life and dreams.

Standing³ in front a drawing entitled "We are all the same," Wen said "It is a very good name. No matter whether they are orphaned by AIDS or carrying the virus, everybody should care for them instead of casting discrimination."

Sitting on the sofa, the children sang a song for the premier.

"I can hear that you are singing with your hearts," Wen said, urging them to remain confident about the future.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday welcomed China's promotion⁴ of voluntary HIV counselling and testing, hailing it a valuable approach to fighting AIDS.

As one of the activities marking World AIDS Day, the Ministry⁵ of Health kicked off a national week of HIV voluntary counselling and testing.

"Voluntary counselling and testing is important for people to be aware of the disease and hence to seek treatment," said Henk Bekedam, the WHO's China representative.

People infected with sexually transmitted diseases or tuberculosis⁶ need to be offered HIV counselling and testing, Bekedam told Xinhua News Agency.

But the service should be based on mutual⁷ consent and ensure confidentiality⁸, he noted⁹.

Experts said that at least 70 per cent HIV/AIDS sufferers in China have not been identified.

"A person who knows she or he is HIV positive will greatly reduce her or his chance to infect others," said Xia Guomei, a researcher with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Since 2003, the testing and consulting service has been provided free of charge.

By the end of June, health institutes had tested 871,089 people, and found 9,567 to be HIV positive, according to figures from the ministry.

However, most of the test sites are poorly attended, even by high-risk groups, despite the fact that the service is free.

Experts said that this situation was a result of the still widely existing discrimination against HIV/AIDS carriers in China.

In addition, many people worry about their privacy cannot be well protected, Xia said.

Bekedam said the WHO and UNAIDS were working on global guidelines, which would soon be issued to encourage routine HIV testing in health care settings.

"The key conditions for this are to ensure that strong confidentiality assurances are in place and that patients are able to opt¹⁰ out of getting tested for HIV if they wish," said WHO spokeswoman in China Joanna Brent.

The Health Ministry reported last week that the number of people officially reported as HIV infected had risen 27.5 per cent since the beginning of the year, to more than 180,000 at the end of October.

It warned the disease was spreading from high-risk groups to the general public.

Referring to the latest figures, Bekedam said it was important to note the pattern of HIV transmission was changing.

In the 1990s, China's main transmission channel was unsafe blood, but today unprotected sex was the main way, he said.

The ministry revealed that transmission through unprotected sex had increased, with the infection rate of sex workers rising from 0.02 per cent in 1996 to 1 per cent in 2005. Surveys show only 38.7 per cent of Chinese sex workers use condoms.

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收听单词发音

1 premier
adj.首要的；n.总理，首相
参考例句：
The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。 He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 orphaned
[计][修]孤立
参考例句：
Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。 He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

3 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 promotion
n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传
参考例句：
The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。 The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

5 ministry
n.(政府的)部；牧师
参考例句：
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。

6 tuberculosis
n.结核病，肺结核
参考例句：
People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。 Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

7 mutual
adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的
参考例句：
We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。 Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

8 confidentiality
n.秘而不宣，保密
参考例句：
They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。 Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

9 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。

10 opt
vi.选择，决定做某事
参考例句：
They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。 Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

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