VOA慢速英語:More Low Cost Anti-AIDS Drugs Mean More People Treated

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

An American program called the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief helps millions of people infected with HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS. PEPFAR is considered one of the most successful programs created during the presidency of George W. Bush. Its goal was to change HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a disease that, while serious, could be treated. And for millions of people around the world, that is just what happened.

But researchers say it was not until PEPFAR started using generic drugs that major progress was made in fighting HIV/AIDS. Generic drugs are copies of medicines developed by large drug companies. But they often cost a lot less.

Researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island studied the effectiveness of PEPFAR. Kartik Venkatesh was the lead author of a report on the study. He says the high cost of patented antiretroviral drugs had an immediate influence on the program after it began.

American officials considered whether to provide patented drugs to HIV-infected patients, both in the United States and overseas. Dr. Venkatesh says some people believe that the drug industry wanted the government-financed program to use patented drugs.

But generic drugs were shown to be effective in treating HIV as far back as two thousand three. Using generic drugs helped cut the cost of treating a person from about one thousand one hundred dollars a year to about three hundred dollars a year in two thousand five.

PEPFAR has also been able to save millions of dollars by reducing transportation costs -- for example, using ships instead of airplanes to move the drugs. Dr. Venkatesh says the PEPFAR model could be used in the fight against other diseases as developing countries begin seeing health problems that until recently had only been seen in richer countries.

DR. KARTIK VENKATESH: "There is a movement towards understanding that the real and perhaps potentially larger burden in the future is also going to be chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes (and) cancer. And those are also diseases that require chronic, long-term medication. A lot can be learned from the experience about accessing generics for the treatment of HIV."

The Brown University researchers have proposed creation of a plan for what they call the "efficient and transparent" purchase of generic drugs. Planners would include the United States, the World Health Organization and the makers of generic drugs.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Christopher Cruise.

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Contributing: Joe De Capua

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

An American program called the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief helps millions of people infected with HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS. PEPFAR is considered one of the most successful programs created during the presidency of George W. Bush. Its goal was to change HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a disease that, while serious, could be treated. And for millions of people around the world, that is just what happened.

美國一個被稱為“總統(tǒng)防治艾滋病緊急救援計劃(以下簡稱PEPFAR)”的項目幫助了數(shù)百萬艾滋病毒(HIV)感染者，艾滋病毒是艾滋病(AIDS)元兇。PEPFAR項目被認為是喬治·W·布什總統(tǒng)任期內(nèi)創(chuàng)建的最為成功的項目之一。其目標(biāo)是將艾滋病毒/艾滋病(HIV/AIDS)從死刑變?yōu)橐环N雖則嚴(yán)重但可以治療的疾病。而對全球數(shù)百萬人來說，這一切正在發(fā)生。

But researchers say it was not until PEPFAR started using generic drugs that major progress was made in fighting HIV/AIDS. Generic drugs are copies of medicines developed by large drug companies. But they often cost a lot less.

但研究人員表示，直到PEPFAR項目開始使用仿制藥，防治艾滋病毒/艾滋病方面才取得重大進展。仿制藥是大型制藥公司開發(fā)出來的藥品的復(fù)制品，但其價格往往便宜很多。

51VOA注：大型藥廠開發(fā)出藥品后具有一段時間的專利保護期，過了專利保護期后該藥品就能被仿制，沒有專利費成本的仿制藥(也稱為非專利藥)成本就可以下降很多。

Researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island studied the effectiveness of PEPFAR. Kartik Venkatesh was the lead author of a report on the study. He says the high cost of patented antiretroviral drugs had an immediate influence on the program after it began.

來自羅得島州布朗大學(xué)的研究人員研究了PEPFAR項目的效益?？柕倏?middot;文卡塔斯(Kartik Venkatesh)是這份研究報告的主要作者。他表示，在該項目開始后，昂貴的抗逆轉(zhuǎn)錄專利藥物對其具有直接影響。

American officials considered whether to provide patented drugs to HIV-infected patients, both in the United States and overseas. Dr. Venkatesh says some people believe that the drug industry wanted the government-financed program to use patented drugs.

美國官員考慮過是否向海內(nèi)外的艾滋病毒感染者提供專利藥物。文卡塔斯博士表示，一些人認為，制藥業(yè)希望這個政府資助項目使用專利藥物。

But generic drugs were shown to be effective in treating HIV as far back as two thousand three. Using generic drugs helped cut the cost of treating a person from about one thousand one hundred dollars a year to about three hundred dollars a year in two thousand five.

但早在2003年，仿制藥就被證明對治療艾滋病毒有效。2005年，使用仿制藥幫助將艾滋病毒治療成本從1100美元每年降低到300美元每年。

PEPFAR has also been able to save millions of dollars by reducing transportation costs -- for example, using ships instead of airplanes to move the drugs. Dr. Venkatesh says the PEPFAR model could be used in the fight against other diseases as developing countries begin seeing health problems that until recently had only been seen in richer countries.

PEPFAR項目還一直能通過降低運輸成本節(jié)省了數(shù)百萬美元。例如使用船舶而不是飛機來轉(zhuǎn)運藥物。文卡塔斯博士表示，PEPFAR模型能用于抗擊其它疾病，這些疾病在發(fā)展中國家也開始被視為健康問題，而不久前它還只是被富裕國家視為健康問題。

DR. KARTIK VENKATESH: "There is a movement towards understanding that the real and perhaps potentially larger burden in the future is also going to be chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes (and) cancer. And those are also diseases that require chronic, long-term medication. A lot can be learned from the experience about accessing generics for the treatment of HIV."

文卡塔斯博士：“目前趨向于認為，可能未來更大的潛在負擔(dān)也將是慢性病，如心血管疾病、糖尿病(和)癌癥。而這些疾病都需要長期服用藥物。從有關(guān)獲取治療艾滋病毒的仿制藥的經(jīng)驗中我們可以學(xué)到很多東西。”

The Brown University researchers have proposed creation of a plan for what they call the "efficient and transparent" purchase of generic drugs. Planners would include the United States, the World Health Organization and the makers of generic drugs.

布朗大學(xué)的研究人員提出了建立他們所謂的“高效透明地”購買仿制藥的計劃。規(guī)劃者將包括美國、世界衛(wèi)生組織和仿制藥制造商。