【Unlocking Word Meanings】
今日の単語・フレーズ
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. epidemic /ˌɛp ɪˈdɛm ɪk/ (n) – the situation in which a disease has infected a large part of a population
Example: Under-population is always anticipated during an epidemic.
2. scale up /ˈskeɪ l ʌp/ (v.) – to raise or be raised in quantity or size from a fixed value
Example: The quantity of the medicine’s production scaled up when the disease started to spread.
3. cocktail /ˈkɒkˌteɪl/ (n.) – a single blend of different and various medical drugs
Example: She needs to take a different kind of cocktail for each stage of her illness.
4. unconditional /ˌʌn kənˈdɪʃ ə nl/ (adj.) – not restricted to any limitations or conditions
Example: True friends would keep you company and treat you with unconditional love even when you are ill.
5. stigma /ˈstɪg mə/ (n.) – set of beliefs that characterizes disgrace in a person’s reputation, personality, or circumstances
Example: Psychiatric patients should not be discriminated with the stigmas of cruelty and favoritism.
【Article】
ニュース記事
Read the text below.
Regulating the spread of HIV and AIDS by 2030 may be the first step to ending the worldwide epidemic, the United Nations (UN) reported in July.
UNAIDS, a UN program dedicated to the fight against HIV and AIDS, stated in a progress report that stopping the global outbreak of the disease is possible. But to achieve this, efforts must concentrate on scaling up funds by 2020 to make treatments accessible worldwide.
AIDS is an incurable disease that targets the immune system. It is caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency [im-yuh-noh-di-FISH-uh n-see, ih-myoo-] virus), a virus that can be transmitted through breast milk, blood, or semen. A drug cocktail called Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is used to treat HIV. It has been proven that early HIV treatment improves chances of preventing AIDS.
ART is one of various HIV treatment drugs that have helped decrease the infection rate from 78 million in the 1980s to 35 million in recent years. As a result, the number of HIV patients has gone down by 38 percent since 2001 and AIDS deaths by 35 percent since 2005. In 2011, the UN planned to provide HIV treatments to 15 million people by 2015. Recent statistics have shown that 12.9 million people have already received treatment last year.
UNAIDS further stated that controlling the epidemic by 2030 would prevent 18 million HIV infections and 11.2 million deaths by AIDS from 2013 to 2030.
Controlling the spread of HIV and AIDS would not only reduce the death rate and enhance chances of defeating the epidemic. It would also introduce better life expectancy, improve unconditional acceptance of people’s rights, protect HIV patients from stigma, and relieve families of the tragedies of losing a loved one.
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【Viewpoint Discussion】
ディスカッションテーマ
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
· Among the advantages, what for you would be the most important advantage of controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS? Please explain your answer.
· If you can cure one incurable disease today, what would it be? Please explain your answer.
Discussion B
· Do you believe that we can find a cure for every disease? Why or why not?
· Do you think it is possible to make the world disease-free? Why or why not?