经济学人下载:英雄与狗熊 人性的善与恶

Science and Technolgy
科技

The history of AIDS
艾滋病的历史

Heroes and villains
英雄与狗熊

The story of AIDS involves many larger-than-life characters, good and bad
艾滋病的故事造就了众多的传奇人物，也展示了人性的善与恶

ANNIVERSARIES are times for reflection, and this one should be no exception, for the 30-year history of AIDS is a mirror in which humanity can examine itself.
周年纪念是缅怀沉思的时刻,这一次也不该例外。30年的艾滋病历史成为检视人性自身的明镜。

From questionable scientists to philanthropic billionaires, people's actions against AIDS, and reactions to it, have shown up the best and worst that humans have to offer.
从道德缺失的科学家到乐善好施的亿万富翁，人们对抗艾滋病的行动及反应已经展示出人类最光明与最阴暗的一面。

Such dualism was there from the beginning, in the question of who discovered the AIDS-causing virus.
这种双重性一开始就存在于谁才是艾滋病致病病毒发现者的问题中。

There were two claimants. One, Robert Gallo, is American. The other, Luc Montagnier, is French.
两名科学家宣称自己发现了艾滋病病毒，一名是美国人罗伯特?盖勒，另一名是法国人吕克?蒙塔尼（Luc Montagnier）。

Dr Gallo called his discovery HTLV-3. Dr Montagnier called his LAV.
前者将病毒命名为HTLV-3,后者命名为LAV,事实上两者是同一种病毒。

They were in fact the same thing. It turned out, however, that Dr Gallo's virus had come from Dr Montagnier's laboratory.
然而事实证明盖勒博士的病毒样本来源于蒙塔尼实验室，但为什么会这样却始终未得到证实，但受指责的也许是那例受感染的病毒样本。

It was never conclusively proved how, though a contaminated sample may have been to blame. And Dr Gallo was exonerated of any wrongdoing by an official investigation and is universally recognised to have done important work on AIDS.
官方调查机构证实盖勒博士未有任何不诚实行为，人们也普遍承认他为艾滋病做出了重要的工作。

But only Dr Montagnier won the Nobel prize-eloquent testimony to some people's opinion of the whole affair.
但最终只有吕克?蒙塔尼（Luc Montagnier）获得了诺贝尔奖—充分说明了一些人的言论对整件事情的影响。

Another source of conflict was whether HIV, as the virus eventually came to be known, was truly the cause of AIDS.
另一个争执点是：在HIV病毒逐渐被公众熟知后，人们开始质疑HIV病毒是否真的是导致艾滋病的病因。

At the beginning of the epidemic, that might have been debatable.
在艾滋病流行初期，这一点可能一直存在争议。

Perhaps HIV was merely a passenger that took advantage of an immune system weakened by another cause?
或许HIV病毒只是趁机搭载在了被其它原因损害的免疫系统上。

One once-respected scientist, Peter Duesberg, who did early research on viral causes of cancer, would not drop the idea.
彼得·迪斯贝格（Peter Duesberg）早期曾做过病毒致癌的研究，这位曾备受尊敬的科学家就不愿意放弃这种观点。

He insisted-and still insists-that the weakening of the immune system characteristic of AIDS is caused by drug-taking (he blames both recreational drugs and AZT, one of the early anti-AIDS drugs), and that HIV is, indeed, a passenger.
无论过去和现在他都坚持认为具有艾滋病特征的免疫系统弱化是由于吸毒引起（他指责软性毒品和AZT（早期抗艾滋病药物之一）），认为HIV确实只是个搭载病毒。

This theory would not have mattered much except that Thabo Mbeki, a former president of South Africa, latched on to it.
这种理论并不太会引起什么重视，只有南非前总统塔博·姆贝基（Thabo Mbeki）才热衷于相信它。

Since South Africa has the world's largest number of AIDS cases, and one of its highest infection rates, this was bad news, as was Mr Mbeki's health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who was appointed mainly because she agreed with him, and recommended beetroot and garlic as treatment for the disease.
南非是全世界拥有艾滋病患者最多国家，也是该病最高传染率国家之一，这是个坏消息。同样的坏消息还有塔博·姆贝基（Thabo Mbeki）任命Manto Tshabalala-Msimang为卫生部长，主要原因是由于在艾滋病问题上她赞同了他的观点，在治疗艾滋病上，Manto Tshabalala-Msimang建议患者应该食用甜菜根和大蒜。

Only with the election of Jacob Zuma, who has himself been publicly tested for HIV (he did not have it), did South Africa return to sensible anti-AIDS policies.
直到祖马当选总统之后，他公开为自己的身体做HIV检查（没检查出有HIV病毒），南非的抵抗艾滋病政策才转向明智。

Among the heroes, Bill Gates looms large.
在抗击艾滋病的英雄中，比尔·盖茨是最贡献突出的一位。

The foundation into which he poured much of his Microsoft fortune took AIDS seriously from the beginning, forming a particularly fruitful partnership with the government of Botswana, one of the worst-affected countries.
他起初就对艾滋病十分重视，创立了艾滋病基金，并将微软财富大量注入其中，与艾滋病重灾国家之一的博茨瓦纳政府形成了卓有成效的合作。

And Nelson Mandela, the heroes' hero, also cleaved eventually to the path of righteousness, even while admitting he had not done enough to combat AIDS during his own presidency of South Africa.
纳尔逊·曼德拉（Nelson Mandela）可谓是英雄中的英雄，他始终坚守正义之路，甚至承认在任职南非总统期间自己在对抗艾滋病方面的工作还做的不够。

Mr Gates and Mr Mandela are easy to admire.
盖茨和曼德拉是容易让人们尊敬的英雄。

One hero that many AIDS activists have difficulty accepting, though, is George Bush junior.
但另一名英雄小布什却让许多艾滋病活动人士难于接受。

Activists do not much like born-again Christians, who take a dim view of the sort of sex lives that help to spread HIV.
他们不太喜欢他这样的重生的基督徒，因为重生基督徒不赞成性生活能帮助HIV病毒进行传播。

But Mr Bush was responsible for setting up the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and for making sure it had plenty of money.
但是布什的功绩是制定了总统防治艾滋病紧急救援计划(PEPFAR)并保证它有足够的资金支持。

PEPFAR is one of the two main organisations, along with the Global Fund, that dish out the cash that rich countries give poor ones to combat AIDS.
PEPFAR是全球两大主要基金组织之一，它与全球基金（Global Fund）一道将发达国家的大量资金拨调给贫穷国家以对抗艾滋病。

Last year, it spent almost $7 billion on AIDS and the tuberculosis that often accompanies it, and it is responsible for helping half of the 6.6m people now on anti-retroviral drugs.
去年，PEPFAR用于治疗艾滋病及其常伴结核病的资金就达70多亿美元，现在它负责资助330万艾滋病患者服用抗转录病毒药物。

Many activists may be reluctant to give Mr Bush credit.
也许众多艾滋病活动人士不愿意给小布什任何赞誉。

But handsome is as handsome does.
但英雄终归是英雄。