An American program called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) 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 is to make HIV/AIDS change 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 has happened. But researchers say it was not until PEPFAR started using generic drugs (非专利药) 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.
Kartik Venkatesh was the lead author of a report on the study. He says the high cost of patented drugs had an immediate influence on the program after it began. American officials considered whether to provide patented drugs for 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 2003. Using generic drugs helped cut the cost of treating a person from about 1,100 dollars a year to about 300 dollars a year.
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. Maybe the real and perhaps potentially larger burden in the future is going to the chronic diseases (慢性病) like heart disease and cancer. And those are also diseases that require long-term treatment. A lot can be learned form the experience in accessing generic drugs for the treatment for HIV.”
72. Why was PEPFAR established?
A. To make it possible to cure AIDS.
B. To study how people are infected with HIV.
C. To warn people that AIDS is serious.
D. To help people develop patented drugs.
73. According to Dr. Venkatesh, generic drugs ________.
A. must be used with the permission of drug companies
B. contribute more to curing AIDS than patented drugs
C. are provided for people with AIDS for free
D. are copies of cheap medicines
74. Which of the following is TRUE about generic drugs?
A. Generic drugs are much easier to transport.
B. Generic drugs were created as far back as 2003.
C. Generic drugs don’t belong to the government-financed program.
D. Generic drugs can reduce the economic pressure of AIDS patients.
75. From the passage we can know that________.
A. HIV is considered as a burden larger than any other disease
B. new health problems will first be seen in developed countries
C. the PEPFAR model offers lessons for people to treat other diseases
D. people ought to understand more about fighting long-term diseases