大多数非洲艾滋儿童无法获得医疗救助

AS IT IS 2015-06-10 Most African Children with AIDS Have No Access to Medical Care 大多数非洲艾滋儿童无法获得医疗救助

A United Nations official says nearly 95 percent of African children living with AIDS do not have a way to get treatment for the disease.

Michel Sidibe is executive¹ director of the Joint² UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. Researchers have shown that infection with HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus, leads to development of the disease.

Mr. Sidibe spoke³ Tuesday during a visit to Cameroon. There, people living with AIDS reported shortages⁴ of antiretroviral drugs.

The UN official said that more than 90 percent of the three million children infected with AIDS live in African countries south of the Sahara. Patients living with AIDS in sub-Sarahan Africa often do not have access to medical treatment.

“We need to think about treatment for children. This is really a major challenge for me because it is a forgotten phase,” Mr. Sidibe said. He added that only six percent of children living with AIDS in Africa have access to treatment.

UNAIDS reported that only 24 percent of children worldwide needing antiretroviral treatment received it in 2013. That same year, 190,000 children died of the disease.

Mr. Sidibe said many people with AIDS die in silence. In many places in Africa, talking about the disease remains⁵ a taboo⁶ subject – something that should not be discussed.

Minyim Jean has been living with AIDS for 15 years. He says it is very difficult to get complete treatment for the disease. Some medical supplies are not always available, he says. Some doctors even change treatment for some patients because they do not have enough supplies.

UNAIDS research shows that sub-Saharan Africa has the most serious problem with HIV and AIDS in the world. The disease has had major social and economic effects on the area. Twenty-five million people with AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa. That represents about 70 percent of all cases.

Words in This Story

patient – n. a person who receives medical care or treatment

taboo – adj. not acceptable⁷ to talk about or do

supplies – n. things that are needed for a particular purpose and that will be used by a particular person or group

1 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

7 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。