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1.VOA常速
【Would New Leader Change Egypt's Foreign Policy?】
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TEXT:A possible win by the Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi has some wondering if Egypt could soon see a realignment of its foreign policy.
A spokesman for the Islamist candidate, Walid el Haddad, says a Morsi administration would strive to move beyond the U.S.-centered agenda of the past, but keep those decades-long ties strong.
"As we have a very good relation with America as one of the leaders of the world, so we have to have a good relation also with the Asian countries. We will have a good relation with African countries, as the European countries," he said.
The key, el Haddad says, is balance. Fifteen turbulent months after the old government fell, radical change is something the Morsi campaign is trying to play down. Even on controversial issues such as Israel, the candidate vows to keep the peace.
"We are respecting any treaties," he said. "This is one of our Islamic references: to respect any treaties. But also we are requesting the other side to respect [it]."
Morsi's opponent, Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister of the old government, also stresses staying the course in foreign relations.
Political observers note that, throughout the campaign, no one called for the treaty to be broken, even those who verbally attacked Israel.
"It can be done for domestic issues, for, you know, raising the popularity of a weak presidential candidate. But it is rhetoric that means nothing," said Said Sadek of the American University in Cairo.
Sadek says Egypt's need to keep friends was seen when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador following a violent protest at its Cairo embassy.
"Immediately, what did they do? The Islamist-controlled parliament sent a big delegation, [saying] 'please come back. We don't want trouble.' They actually, I believe them, they don’t want. Nobody wants any major trouble in foreign policy," he said.
Another factor at play is Egypt's influential military, which was dragged into three wars during the last century. Political analyst Hisham Kassem says, since then, it has pledged not to be the victim of political ambitions.
"So the war decision will remain theirs," said Kassem. "Add to that anything in foreign policy that will lead to war, which means basically Israel, the Nile basin and Iran. You cannot make foreign policy isolated from the military in the next coming 10 years on issues like that."
There is also what appears to be an overriding need for the candidate who wins to keep his eye on problems at home.
"We have a lot of issues internally actually," said Morsi spokesman el Haddad. "We have the economic problem, the security disturbance."
Morsi, he says, will focuss on domestic issues, first. Changing foreign policy, he adds, is just not a top priority. At least for now.
2.VOA慢速
【US Considers Approving Drug to Prevent HIV】
TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
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 aseffective when people did not take it every day.
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.
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.
Mitchell Warren, head of the HIV prevention group AVAC, explains that Truvada is a combination pill.
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."
The advisory committee held a twelve-hour hearing on May tenth to consider the effect. 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.
Mr. Warren says Truvada offers hope for a new way to fight HIV.
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."
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.
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.
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.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Christopher Cruise.
參考譯文:這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。
研究表明，一種名為Truvada的藥物可預防HIV感染，這種藥每天服一片。研究表明，每天服用可以達到99%的預防率。如果不是每天都服用的話，效果只有這個的一半。
目前在美國，這種藥物只準許給那些已經感染HIV的病人服用，HIV是導致艾滋病的病毒。
如今，一個政府咨詢委員會稱，Truvada應成為預防HIV的首選藥物。食品與藥物管理局(FDA)不必遵從抗病毒藥物咨詢委員會的建議，但通常都遵從。
FDA有望于6月15日對此作出決定。 Mitchell Warren是HIV預防組織AVAC負責人，他解釋說，Truvada是一種復合型藥片。
Mitchell Warren：“它由兩種抗逆轉錄病毒組成，替諾福韋和恩曲他濱。
幾年前，FDA已分別批準了這兩種藥物，大約8年前，它們作為復合型藥物獲得批準。但這都與對那些已經感染HIV者的治療有關。”
咨詢委員會于5月10日舉行了一場12小時的聽審會來考慮有關證據，委員會敦促FDA允許那些被視為高感染風險者 使用這種藥物。委員會就推薦使用Truvada進行了兩次投票，一次涉及男同性戀和雙性戀男子，另一次涉及其中一人感染HIV的異性戀伴侶。
Warren說，Truvada給戰勝HIV帶來了新希望。
MITCHELL WARREN: “如果你有感染HIV的風險，如果感到自己有危險，如果每天服藥，作為一系列活動的一部分 ，包括經常進行HIV測試，就可以大大減少感染的風險。”
Truvada的制造商Gilead將須提出一項風險評估和緩和戰略，這項計劃將幫助確定Truvada的安全有效使用，還要向醫療提供者進行強化培訓。
有的醫生說Truvada是終結艾滋病的一步，但批評者稱，藥物會使人有種錯誤的安全感，讓人不再會用安全套。批評者稱，這也會使一些更有效的預防辦法，比如使用安全套，無法得到財政資源。
目前，服用Truvada每年需花費約為1.4萬美元，這種藥在發展中國家花費較少，可能每年幾百美元。但對有的國家來說，這仍很昂貴。
本VOA慢速參考譯文由可可英語Sunny提供
