HEALTH REPORT - United Nations Launches Children's AIDS Camp

HEALTH REPORT - United Nations Launches Children's AIDS Campaign
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, November 02, 2005

I'm Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Health Report.

The United Nations has launched a campaign to get countries to do more for children affected¹ by H.I.V. and AIDS. The U.N. Children's Fund and the U.N. AIDS program call their campaign, "Unite for Children. United Against AIDS."

 
UNICEF is trying to raise the issue of how children are affected by HIV/AIDS
AIDS resulted in three million deaths in two thousand four. One in six victims was under the age of fifteen.

But UNICEF says millions of children are affected by AIDS even if they are not infected with the virus that causes it. Many lose parents or brothers and sisters. In some cases, they are even denied schooling² and health care just because of their family situation.

U.N. officials say about fifteen million children have lost at least one parent because of AIDS. Yet, they say, less than ten percent of these children receive any public support or services. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says many children are being left to grow up alone, grow up too soon or not grow up at all.

Southern Africa is home to almost ninety percent of children infected with H.I.V. But the virus is increasingly spreading among young people in Asia and eastern Europe.

About half of all new H.I.V. infections worldwide are among people age fifteen to twenty-four. UNICEF aims to reduce new infections among young people by twenty-five percent within the next five years.

Less than five percent of children with H.I.V. receive treatment now. UNICEF wants to increase that number, and also services for pregnant women to prevent infection of their babies.

UNICEF says children must be put first in the fight against AIDS. It says children are too often excluded from government policy discussions on the disease. The campaign aims to reach eighty percent of children most in need of services by two thousand ten.

The U.N. AIDS program says at least fifty-five thousand million dollars will be needed over the next three years to fight AIDS. U.N. officials say much of that money should be provided for children.

Kofi Annan, UNICEF chief Ann Veneman and the head of UNAIDS, Doctor Peter Piot, announced the campaign last week in New York.

Miz Veneman noted³ that in the past twenty-five years, AIDS has not only claimed more than twenty million lives. In some countries it has also lowered the average life expectancy⁴ by as much as thirty years.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Shep O'Neal.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。