希拉里·罗德姆·克林顿 | 纪念高耀洁
編者按：2023年12月10日高耀潔醫生在紐約去世。博登書屋編輯出版中英文《高耀潔畫傳》，希拉里·罗德姆·克林顿和黎安友教授分別為畫傳寫下前言，其新書發佈會10月12日在紐約法拉盛圖書館舉行。希拉里說：“我一直很喜欢勇敢的女性，而高医生无疑是这样的人。“
自 1981 年美国确认首例艾滋病，40多年过去了。在这个全球化时代，艾滋病治疗仍然在挑战全球医学界；迄今为止，艾滋病已夺走了超过 4000 万人的生命，并继续传播，特别是在全球南方的一些地区。在有效疫苗研发之前，教育仍然是最好的预防方法。
在这种背景下，高耀洁医生在艾滋病预防方面的开创性工作影响深远，跨越了数十年和国际边界。
2009 年，我作为国务卿首次访问中国时，又见到高医生，之后我们一直保持着愉快的交往。 2007年，在地方官员试图阻止高医生来美领奖时，我向胡锦涛主席求情，最终促成高医生前往华盛顿领奖。我第一次见到她，且单独交谈。我们最后一次见面是在2019年。当时，她在护工陪同下住在曼哈顿靠近哥伦比亚大学的一间公寓里。我们的谈话广泛而深入，正如往常一样，我从她的见解中学到了很多，并且欣赏她的幽默感。
高医生曾经告诉我，她可能是我见过的唯一一个缠过足的女性，这个鲜明的例子提醒我们，不久前中国女性才摆脱这种压迫性习俗。亲眼见到一个受这些古老传统影响的受害者对我来说是一个文化冲击。了解她的生活后，我更加惊讶的是，高医生正是用这双脚，行走在中国的中原大地。她逐村逐户地走访，为艾滋病患者送去药品和书籍。最初的惊讶很快转变为对高医生的深深敬佩。
我一直很喜欢勇敢的女性，而高医生无疑是这样的人。由于她的直言不讳，她遭受了政府的处罚，被禁止从事妇产科工作。制裁解除后，她回到了医疗岗位。在工作中，她发现中原地区的艾滋病流行源于卖血加上输血中的交叉感染。意识到疫情的严重性后，她不知疲倦地向公众宣传。
她的家中摆满了她自编、自印的艾滋病预防材料。为此，政府试图压制她的工作，她经受了政府的种种打压，包括被软禁。当她无法继续在中国进行艾滋病教育时，她选择了自我流亡，离开生活了八十多年的家园。她来到美国，带着包含她所有关于中国艾滋病研究的硬盘，继续她的使命。
一位 81 岁的老人，独自跨越数千里来到美国，面对迫害仍不放弃艾滋病教育的推广。她是勇气、决心以及学术为善的典范。我看到这本图文并茂的传记很高兴，这本传记确保她的遗产和服务精神得以延续。美国乃至世界的艾滋病预防和治疗历史将永远记住高耀洁这个名字。我也将永远记得高耀洁医生，珍惜我们之间的对话。
2024年 6月 20日
Commemorating Gao Yaojie
More than 40 years have passed since the first confirmed case of AIDS in the United States in 1981. In this era of the global village, it continues to challenge the global medical community; AIDS has claimed more than 40 million lives to date and continues to spread, especially in parts of the Global South. Until an effective vaccine is developed, education is still the best prevention method. In that context, the impact of Dr. Gao Yaojie's pioneering work on AIDS prevention endures across decades and international boundaries.
I met Dr. Gao in 2009, during my first trip to China as Secretary of State, and I had the pleasure of continuing our acquaintance for years. In 2007, I interceded with President Hu Jintao to allow Dr. Gao to come to Washington to receive an award after local officials tried to prevent her from traveling. Our last meeting took place in 2019. At that time, she lived alone in an apartment in Upper Manhattan near Columbia University. Our conversation was wide ranging and as always I learned a lot from her insights and appreciated her good humor.
Dr. Gao once told me she was probably the only woman I’d ever met who had bound feet, a stark reminder of a China not so far in the rearview mirror and how recently women were liberated from oppressive customs that came with it. Meeting a victim of such archaic traditions in person was a cultural shock. Learning about her life, I was even more astonished to realize that it was with these feet that Dr. Gao had traversed the vast Central Plains of China. She visited village after village, household after household, delivering medicine and books to AIDS patients. My initial surprise quickly gave way to profound admiration for Dr. Gao.
I have always loved gutsy women. And Dr. Gao was certainly that. For her forthrightness, she faced governmental punishment, barring her from practicing obstetrics and gynecology. After these sanctions were eventually lifted, she returned to her medical duties. In her work, she discovered that the AIDS epidemic in the Central Plains stemmed from cross-infection through blood sales and transfusions. Recognizing the severity of the epidemic, she worked tirelessly to inform the public.
Her home was filled with self-authored, self-funded AIDS prevention materials. For this, she endured government attempts to suppress her work, including being put under house arrest. When she could no longer continue her AIDS education efforts in China, she chose self-exile, leaving behind the home she had known for nearly seventy years. She came to the United States, carrying a hard drive containing all her research on AIDS in China, and continued her missionin America.
An 81-year-old woman, crossing thousands of miles alone to America, refusing in the face of persecution to stop promoting AIDS education. She remains an example of courage, determination, and using scholarship for good. I am grateful to Dr. Gao Yaojie's family for compiling this illustrated biography, ensuring that her legacy and spirit of service endure. The history of AIDS prevention and treatment in both America and the world will forever remember the name Gao Yaojie. I, too, will always remember Dr. Gao Yaojie and cherish the conversations we shared.
-- Hillary Rodham Clinton
June 20, 2024
