全球抗艾形勢出現重大轉折
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.
國際社會抗擊艾滋病(Aids)的鬥爭走過了一個轉折點。數據顯示，去年，接受抗艾滋病病毒(HIV)藥物治療的人數超過了感染這種病毒的人數。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.
這是自27年前抗逆轉錄病毒藥物問世以來，接受抗艾滋病病毒治療的人數首次超過艾滋病病毒感染的人數。
“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.
扶貧組織One的衛生政策主任埃琳•霍爾菲爾德(Erin Hohlfelder)表示：“我們並不是說艾滋病即將被消滅，但我們已經達到了一個重要的里程碑，我們第一次跑在了艾滋病前面。”今日是世界艾滋病日(World Aids Day)，在一份紀念這個日子的報告中，該組織強調了這個轉折點。
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230萬人開始接受抗艾滋病病毒治療，而新增艾滋病病毒感染者爲210萬人。目前還拿不到2014年的數據。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.
上述數據標誌着，去年的情況較前年有所改善。前年，有160萬人首次接受藥物治療，而新增感染者爲220萬人。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，全球累計有1360萬人得到抗逆轉錄病毒藥物治療，但這個數字仍不到艾滋病病毒攜帶者人數的一半，後者估計有3500萬人。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.
霍爾菲爾德警告稱，現在還遠不到宣佈勝利的時候。她說：“就全球而言，我們確實走過了這個轉折點，但並非對所有國家都是如此。而且，我們取得的進展很容易陷入停滯或付諸東流。”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，全球用於抗艾滋病病毒的資金達到191億美元，但仍低於聯合國(UN)認爲需要達到的水平，即每年220億至240億美元。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.
霍爾菲爾德表示，中等收入國家開始捐出更多資金，但三個主要捐助國（美國、法國和英國）目前的負擔比例是“不可持續”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.”
“很多捐助國——例如澳大利亞、日本及中東一些國家——的前進速度的確還趕不上我們的期望。”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.
由於最新的抗逆轉錄病毒藥物使得艾滋病病毒感染者的預期壽命有可能逼近正常人的水平，艾滋病在發達國家正慢慢地被視爲一種可控的慢性病，但活動人士和衛生官員警告稱，要提防可能出現的自滿情緒。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.
他們說，在許多發展中國家，艾滋病病毒依然是對人類健康的最嚴重威脅之一，特別是在非洲，那裏的感染者佔全球的近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.
隨着某些難以觸及的羣體成爲這種病毒的主要感染者，比如性工作者和吸毒者、以及可能躲避檢測和治療的同性戀人羣和青年，可能很難取得更多的快速進展。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.”
領導全球抗擊艾滋病的聯合國艾滋病規劃署(UNAids)的執行主任米歇爾•西迪貝(Michel Sidibé)說，要實現到2030年時結束艾滋病疫情的目標，需要發動一場大規模攻勢。“我們已經改變了這一疫情的發展軌跡。現在，我們有五年的時間來永久性地挫敗它，否則疫情可能會反彈至失控的程度。”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.
某些製藥公司曾因把窮人擋在抗艾滋病病毒藥物治療的大門之外而受到公衆的嘲笑。現在，它們已通過授權發展中國家的仿製藥廠商以較低成本生產它們的藥物，來支持抗擊艾滋病的努力。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，艾伯維(AbbVie)成爲第五家授予聯合國資助的藥品專利池組織(MPP)仿製藥生產許可的大公司。此前已簽署許可協議的企業包括百時美施貴寶(Bristol-Myers Squibb)、吉利德科學公司(Gilead Sciences)、羅氏(Roche)，以及葛蘭素史克(GSK)和輝瑞(Pfizer)的合資公司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.
艾伯維與藥品專利池組織簽署的協議包括兩種爲兒科使用配製的抗逆轉錄病毒藥物，可幫助緩解兒童適用藥物短缺的問題。全球有320萬兒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個國家的仿製藥廠商將可生產艾伯維的洛匹那韋(lopinavir)和利托那韋(ritonavir)藥物。幾乎所有感染了艾滋病病毒的兒童都生活在這102個國家。“This is a crucial licence for paediatric programmes in resource-limited countries,” said Greg Perry, executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool.
藥品專利池組織執行主任格雷格•佩裏(Greg Perry)說：“這對資源有限國家的兒科治療計劃而言是一項關鍵的授權。”
