VOA慢速英语:US Considers Approving Drug to Prevent HIV

Studies show that a drug called Truvada can prevent HIV infections. The pill is taken once a day. Studies showed it was ninety percent effective when people took it every day. It was only half as effective when people did not take it every day. 
研究表明，一种名为Truvada的药物可以预防艾滋病毒感染，这种药每天服一片。研究也表明，每天服用可以达到90%的预防率。如果不是每天都服用的话，效果就会减半。

Currently, in the United States, the drug is only approved for use as a treatment for people already infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Now a government advisory committee says Truvada should become the first drug approved for use to prevent HIV.
目前，这种药物在美国只准许给那些艾滋病毒感染者服用，HIV是导致艾滋病的病毒。如今，一个政府咨询委员会称，Truvada应成为预防艾滋病毒的首选药物。

The Food and Drug Administration is not required to follow the advice of its Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee, but usually does. The FDA is expected to decide by June fifteenth.
食品与药物管理局(FDA)不必遵从抗病毒药物咨询委员会的建议，但通常都遵从。食品与药物管理局预计在6月15日对此作出决定。

Mitchell Warren, head of the HIV prevention group AVAC, explains that Truvada is a combination pill.
 Mitchell Warren是HIV预防组织AVAC负责人，他解释说，Truvada是一种复合型药片。

MITCHELL WARREN: "It's made up of two different antiretrovirals -- tenofovir and emtricitabine. And those two drugs had already been approved by the FDA a number of years ago individually, and then about eight years ago they were approved as the combination drug. But all of those approvals related to the use of the drug for treating people who are already infected with HIV."
Mitchell Warren：“它由两种抗逆转录病毒组成，替诺福韦和恩曲他滨。几年前，食品与药物管理局已分别批准了这两种药物，大约8年前，它们作为复合型药物获得批准。但这都与对那些艾滋病毒感染者的治疗有关。”

The advisory committee held a twelve-hour hearing on May tenth to consider the evidence. The committee urged the FDA to approve the drug for use by those who are considered at high risk for getting infected. The committee held two separate votes on recommending Truvada. One vote dealt with gay and bisexual men. The other dealt with heterosexual couples where one person has HIV.
咨询委员会于5月10日举行了一场12小时的听审会来考虑有关证据，委员会敦促食品与药物管理局允许那些被视为高感染风险者 使用这种药物。委员会就推荐使用Truvada进行了两次投票，一次涉及男同性恋和双性恋男子，另一次涉及其中一人感染艾滋病毒的异性恋伴侣。

Mr. Warren says Truvada offers hope for a new way to fight HIV.
Warren先生说，Truvada给防治艾滋病毒带来了新希望。

MITCHELL WARREN: "If you are at risk of HIV, if you perceive yourself to be at risk, if you're able to take this pill every day as part of a combination of activities, including getting frequent HIV testing, you can reduce your risk of infection quite substantially."
MITCHELL WARREN: “如果你有感染艾滋病毒的风险，如果感到自己有危险，如果每天服药，作为一系列活动的一部分 ，包括经常进行艾滋病毒测试，就可以大大减少感染的风险。”

The manufacturer of Truvada, Gilead, would have to produce what is known as a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy. This would be a plan to help ensure the safe and effective use of Truvada. The plan would include extensive training for health care providers. It would also include testing to make sure people are not already infected with HIV before they take the pill.
Truvada的制造商Gilead将须提出一项风险评估和缓和战略，这项计划将帮助确定Truvada的安全有效使用，还要向医疗提供者进行强化培训。

Some doctors say Truvada is a step toward ending the threat from AIDS. But some critics say the drug could give people a false sense of security and make them less likely to use condoms. Critics say it could also take financial resources away from more cost-effective methods of prevention, like using condoms.
有的医生说Truvada是终结艾滋病的一步，但批评者称，药物会使人有种错误的安全感，让人不再会用安全套。批评者称，这也会使一些更有效的预防办法，比如使用安全套，无法得到财政资源。

Truvada currently sells for about fourteen thousand dollars a year. The drug would cost much less in developing countries, possibly several hundred dollars a year. But that could still be too high for some countries.
目前， Truvada每年的销售销售价格约为1.4万美元，这种药在发展中国家花费较少，可能每年几百美元。但对一些国家来说还是很贵。