VOA慢速英语2017 US Official: We Have the Tools to End AIDS Now

Friday, December 1st marks the 30th World AIDS Day.

这个周五的12月1日是第三十届世界艾滋病日。

One aim of the event is to show support for people living with HIV, the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 1, or AIDS. Another aim is to remember the people who have died from conditions related to AIDS.

该活动的目标之一是向艾滋病毒感染者表达支持，这种病毒会引起获得性免疫缺陷，也就是我们常说的艾滋病。另一个目标是纪念那些死于艾滋病相关疾病的人们。

Since 1984, about 35 million people have died from HIV and AIDS-related diseases. This number makes "it one of the most destructive pandemics in history," according to the World AIDS Day website.

自1984年以来，大约有3500万人死于艾滋病相关疾病。根据世界艾滋病日网站报道，这个数字使得它成为历史上最具破坏性的流行病之一。

The Joint 2 United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, released a report before the World Day observances on Friday.

联合国艾滋病规划署在周五的世界艾滋病日活动前发布了一份报告。

The report noted 3 progress in containing HIV. It said 21 million people who have the virus are getting treatment. That number is more than half of all people living with HIV.

报告指出了遏制艾滋病方面取得的进展。报告声称有2100万艾滋病毒感染者正在接受治疗。这一数字超过了所有艾滋病毒感染者数量的一半。

The UN's goal is to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030.

联合国的目标是在2030年之前消灭艾滋病这种传染病。

American Anthony Fauci has been working in the fight against AIDS since the 1980's. At that time, an HIV infection was considered a death sentence. Now people with the virus can expect to have a normal life if they get treatment.

美国人安东尼·福奇（Anthony Fauci）从上世纪80年代起一直从事对抗艾滋病方面的工作。当时，感染艾滋病被视为判了死刑。现在的感染者如果得到治疗就有望过上正常的生活。

Fauci heads the National Institute of Allergy 4 and Infectious Diseases at the United States government’s National Institutes of Health. He says that we have "the ability to end the pandemic as we know it."

福奇负责美国国家卫生研究院下属的国家过敏和传染病研究所。他说，我们有能力消除这种传染病。

"What I mean is that we have extraordinarily 5 effective drugs. But recently those drugs have been shown – over the past few years – not only to save lives of the people who take the drugs, but also to bring the level of virus in an infected person so low, below detectable 6 level, that it makes it virtually impossible for that person to transmit the virus to someone else."

他说：“我的意思是我们有非常有效的药物。但是最近这些药物已经被证实，在过去几年里它不仅挽救了那些服用药物者的性命，还把感染者的病毒水平降到了如此之低，低于可检测到的水平。这使得感染者几乎不可能将这种病毒传染给他人。”

However, people taking medications face the same problems as anyone else who takes medicines on a daily basis.

然而，服药者也面临着其它每日服药者相同的问题。

Not everyone remembers to take their medications, and doctors’ prescriptions 8 often need to be renewed.

不是每个人都记得服药，同时医生的处方通常需要更新。

Sixteen million people infected with HIV are not getting treatment. Many in this group do not know they have the disease, so they continue to spread the virus. Some of them are lacking in healthcare, so they don't get tested.

还有1600万艾滋病毒感染者没有得到治疗。这群人中有很多人不知道他们患上了艾滋病，所以他们继续在传播病毒。其中一些人缺乏医疗保健，所以他们没有被检测出来。

UNAIDS reports that some 1.8 million people became infected with HIV in 2016. That estimate is 39 percent lower than the number of newly-infected people in the late 1990s.

联合国艾滋病规划署报告称，2016年约有180万人感染了艾滋病毒，比上世纪90年代末的新感染人数降低了39%。

In African countries south of the Sahara Desert, new HIV infections have fallen by 48 percent since 2000.

在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲国家，自2000年以来，新感染艾滋病毒者降低了48%。

However, the report notes that new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have risen by 60 percent since 2010. In addition, AIDS-related deaths have increased by 27 percent.

然而，该报告指出，自2010年以来，东欧和中亚国家的艾滋病新感染人数上涨了60%。此外，艾滋病相关死亡人数增加了27%。

Even with the tools we have, Fauci does not see an end to the AIDS pandemic without an HIV vaccine 9.

即使有了我们现在所拥有的治疗手段，福奇也不认为没有艾滋病疫苗就能消除艾滋病这种传染病。

Several years ago, researchers tested an experimental AIDS vaccine in Thailand. That vaccine was 31 percent effective.

几年前，研究人员在泰国测试了一种实验性的艾滋病疫苗，它的有效率是31%。

By comparison, the measles 10 vaccine protects up to 99 percent of those who get vaccinated 11.

相比之下，麻疹疫苗可以保护高达99%的接种人群。

Fauci told VOA he is not sure if scientists can develop an AIDS vaccine that would be as effective. But he adds that even a vaccine with 50 or 60 percent effectiveness combined with other measures "could turn around the trajectory 12 of the epidemic 13 and essentially 14 end it as we know it."

福奇对美国之音表示，他不确定科学家是否能够开发出一种同样这么有效的艾滋病疫苗。但他补充说，即使疫苗有效率只有50%或60%，但是结合其它措施，也能扭转疫情的发展轨迹并基本消灭它。

Another vaccine trial is taking place in South Africa. The results will not be available until 2019 at the earliest, and there is no way of telling if that vaccine will be good enough to help end AIDS.

另一项疫苗试验正在南非进行，结果最早要到2019年才能出来，并且没有办法证实这种疫苗是否足以帮助消灭艾滋病。

For now, testing, anti-AIDS drugs, and changes in behavior are three tools to limit the spread of AIDS, according to UNAIDS.

根据联合国规划署的报道，目前而言，检测、抗艾滋病药物以及改变行为是限制艾滋病传播的三种手段。

Behavioral change includes limiting the number of sexual partners, using clean needles and syringes, and using condoms during sexual activity.

行为改变包括限制性伴侣数量，使用清洁的针头和注射器，以及在性行为中使用安全套。

Both Fauci and UNAIDS say ending AIDS is up to the world community – and how much effort and money it is willing to use toward the goal.

福奇和联合国艾滋病规划署都表示， 消除艾滋病取决于国际社会以及他们愿意为实现这一目标付出多少努力和金钱。

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

pandemic – n. a situation in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area

according – adv. as stated by or in

detectable – adj. capable of being discovered or noticed

transmit – v. to cause (a virus or disease) to be given to others

medication – n. a substance used in treating disease or easing pain

prescription 7 – n. written directions for use of a medicine

trajectory – n. the curved path along which something (such as a rocket) moves through the air or through space -- often used figuratively to describe a process of change or development that leads toward a particular result

needle – n. a very thin, pointed 15 steel tube that is pushed through the skin so that something (such as a drug) can be put into your body or so that blood or other fluids can be taken from it

condom – n. a thin rubber covering that a man wears during sex to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant or to prevent the spread of diseases