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.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

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.

美国一个被称为“总统防治艾滋病紧急救援计划(以下简称PEPFAR)”的项目帮助了数百万艾滋病毒(HIV)感染者，艾滋病毒是艾滋病(AIDS)元凶。PEPFAR项目被认为是乔治·W·布什总统任期内创建的最为成功的项目之一。其目标是将艾滋病毒/艾滋病(HIV/AIDS)从死刑变为一种虽则严重但可以治疗的疾病。而对全球数百万人来说，这一切正在发生。

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.

但研究人员表示，直到PEPFAR项目开始使用仿制药，防治艾滋病毒/艾滋病方面才取得重大进展。仿制药是大型制药公司开发出来的药品的复制品，但其价格往往便宜很多。

51VOA注：大型药厂开发出药品后具有一段时间的专利保护期，过了专利保护期后该药品就能被仿制，没有专利费成本的仿制药(也称为非专利药)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.

来自罗得岛州布朗大学的研究人员研究了PEPFAR项目的效益。卡尔蒂克·文卡塔斯(Kartik Venkatesh)是这份研究报告的主要作者。他表示，在该项目开始后，昂贵的抗逆转录专利药物对其具有直接影响。

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.

美国官员考虑过是否向海内外的艾滋病毒感染者提供专利药物。文卡塔斯博士表示，一些人认为，制药业希望这个政府资助项目使用专利药物。

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，仿制药就被证明对治疗艾滋病毒有效。2005年，使用仿制药帮助将艾滋病毒治疗成本从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项目还一直能通过降低运输成本节省了数百万美元。例如使用船舶而不是飞机来转运药物。文卡塔斯博士表示，PEPFAR模型能用于抗击其它疾病，这些疾病在发展中国家也开始被视为健康问题，而不久前它还只是被富裕国家视为健康问题。

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：“目前趋向于认为，可能未来更大的潜在负担也将是慢性病，如心血管疾病、糖尿病(和)癌症。而这些疾病都需要长期服用药物。从有关获取治疗艾滋病毒的仿制药的经验中我们可以学到很多东西。”

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.

布朗大学的研究人员提出了建立他们所谓的“高效透明地”购买仿制药的计划。规划者将包括美国、世界卫生组织和仿制药制造商。