國際專題：無法兌現的支票──國際愛滋會議投下震撼彈【2010/07/22 台灣立報】

策劃、編譯■魏世昌

第18屆國際愛滋會議，18日至24日於奧地利首都維也納舉行。

這場會議應聚焦對抗愛滋最新醫學發展，但因金融海嘯餘波，各國愛滋工作嚴重受阻。

援助基金短絀問題浮現，導致會議嚴重變質，場內氣氛凝重、場外抗議聲不斷。

會議結束後能達成何種結論？愛滋防疫能否有更大進展？

攸關千萬人生存的關鍵會議，人人都睜大雙眼等著結果。

■A woman takes a picture of the house of parliament which is adorned with a red ribbon during the opening ceremony of the 18th Life Ball in Vienna July 17, 2010. Reuters

聯合國與世界最大的對抗愛滋組織18日表示，因全球金融海嘯影響，他們憂慮富裕國家對愛滋經費的挹注可能大幅削減。

The United Nations and the world’s largest backer of programs against HIV/AIDS said on Sunday they feared wealthy donor nations may cut funding to fight the disease because of global recession.

這場於維也納舉行的國際愛滋會議開幕當天，聯合國秘書長潘基文對2萬名與會的愛滋倡議人士、科學家與HIV感染者發表演說。他讚許對抗HIV工作的進展；不過若各國政府削減預算，勢必前功盡棄。

Speaking at the start of an international gathering of some 20,000 AIDS activists, scientists and HIV patients in Vienna, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised progress made against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, but said this could be jeopardized （1） if governments trimmed budgets.

人在紐約的潘基文，透過視訊於會議開場時表示：「的確某些政府正不斷刪減對抗愛滋的經費，這令我們全體感到憂心。」

“Some governments are cutting back on their response to AIDS. This should be a cause for great concern to us all,” he told the conference via videolink from New York.

全球愛滋病、肺結核、瘧疾防治基金會執行總監米歇爾．察契肯表示，在未來3年要保持進展，要美金2百億才夠。

Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said it needed up to $20 billion in the next three years to sustain progress.

「我感到極度憂慮、害怕。」他在會議中告訴記者。「因全球經融海嘯帶來的危機……競爭的重點不同了。」

“I am hugely afraid. I am very concerned,” he told reporters at the Vienna conference. “Because of the (global financial) crisis … because of the competing priorities.”

「我聽聞許多國家削減官方援助基金；但也有政府不顧其吃緊的預算，仍宣稱將繼續對外進行援助，資訊極度混亂。」

“I hear of many governments cutting official development aid, but I hear other governments saying that despite cuts in other areas, foreign assistance will remain — and I also hear other governments with good news. It is very up and down.”

正當他發言時，數百名抗議群眾集結至會議中心外，要求富裕國家履行承諾，讓需要愛滋藥物治療的病患都能獲得藥物。

As he spoke, hundreds of protesters marched （2） through the conference center demanding that rich nations deliver on their promise that all those in needs of AIDS drugs should get them.

2001年創立的全球基金，每3年固定提高捐助款，並於2007年募得2008至2010年所需資金1百億美元。下回補充會議10月5日於紐約舉行，為2011至13年資金進行籌款作業。

The Global Fund, set up in 2001, raises donor money every three years and in 2007 secured $10 billion for the 2008-2010 period. The next replenishment meeting is on October 5 in New York and cover the years 2011 to 2013.

「我不相信獲得資金將大幅削減；不過問題是究竟能比2007年資金高出多少。」察契肯說。

“I can’t believe we will get less, and I can’t believe we will be flatlining, but the question is how much more we will get than we got in 2007,” Kazatchkine said.

金融海嘯沖垮防治CRISIS聯合國愛滋病規劃署在會議中發表報告指出，去年金融海嘯狂掃全球，整體捐助國對愛滋病的援助大幅萎縮。

A report published at the conference by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) found that overall support for global AIDS effort from donor nations flattened out last year in the midst of global economic crisis.

報告中表示，2009年8國集團領導富裕國家，包括歐盟執行委員會在內的捐助國，共支援76億美元用於發展中國家的愛滋救濟基金。而2008年為77億美元。

In 2009, the Group of Eight leading wealthy nations, the European Commission and other donor governments provided $7.6 billion for AIDS relief in developing nations, compared with $7.7 billion disbursed in 2008, it said.

已逾3,340萬人感染愛滋病毒，多發生於非洲。大部分因不安全性行為、共用針頭與母乳感染。HIV病毒會逐漸磨損人體免疫系統，潛伏期可達數年之久。1980年代初至今，愛滋病已奪走2千5百萬人生命。

The AIDS virus has infected 33.4 million people — many of them in Africa — and is transmitted during sex, in blood and on needles and in breast milk. It gradually wears down the immune system （3） and can take years to cause symptoms. It has killed 25 million people since the early 1980s.

察契肯表示，愛滋基金用途分3部分：治療、預防與保健基礎建設。

Kazatchkine said its funding for AIDS, which accounts for around half the fund’s spending, was split into three areas — treatment, prevention and health infrastructure for delivery.

上週六一份醫學報告指出，治療HIV病患的雞尾酒療法，不僅能讓病患活得更久，更有助防止病毒進一步蔓延擴散。

A study published earlier on Sunday found that treating HIV patients with cocktails of drugs not only can help them live longer, but can also be a powerful way of limiting the spread of the incurable virus.

若全球基金如願募得未來3年所需經費2百億美元，察契肯說，這將能挽救數百萬條生命，並能有效預防數千萬人新感染的風險。

If the Global Fund manages to get its hoped-for $20 billion dollars for the next three years, Kazatchkine said millions of lives could be saved with HIV treatment and tens of millions of new infections could be prevented.

他同時表示，母子垂直感染愛滋病幾乎能「完全根除」。HIV治療與檢測服務能擴及至更多弱勢族群，像是性工作者、吸毒者與同志族群。

He also said mother-to-child transmission of HIV could be “virtually eliminated,” and HIV treatment and testing services could be provided for many more marginalized groups （4） such as sex workers, drug addicts and men who have sex with men.

世界各國領袖達成共識，將今年設為治療全球愛滋感染者的最後期限。不過，國際愛滋協會會長蒙太納呼應場外抗議人士訴求，他們高呼：「失約的承諾害死人」。

World leaders set this year as a deadline for universal access to treatment for all HIV/AIDS patients who need it, but the head of the International AIDS Society Julio Montaner echoed the tone of protesters, who shouted “broken promises kill.”

蒙太納譴責政客未能履行諾言，他表示，1千5百萬急需挽救生命藥物的愛滋病患中，僅3成真正獲得藥物治療。

Montaner rebuked （5） politicians for failing to deliver on their promise, saying that only a third of the 15 million people who need potentially life-saving AIDS drugs currently get them.

「今天我們已證明的確可以達到目標……，不過現在需要的是政治意願進行普及的額外努力。」他說。

“Today we have treatments that work, we have shown that this can be done … what we need now is the political will to go the extra mile to deliver on universal access,” he said.

「我們對全球的政治領導力存有許多問題，必須解決。」

“We have a serious problem with the political leadership globally and we have to fix it.”

（路透Reuters）