This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
Scientists say a study in Africa shows that AIDS drugs can increase life expectancy in patients to nearly normal levels.
科学家表示，在非洲进行的一项研究表明，艾滋病药物可以将患者预期寿命提升到接近正常水平。
One of the authors was Dr. Jean Nachega of South Africa's Stellenbosch University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.
这篇研究报告的作者之一是任职于南非斯坦林布什大学和马里兰州巴尔的摩市约翰霍普金斯大学彭博公共卫生学院的Jean Nachega博士。
JEAN NACHEGA: "The overall key finding of our study is that the patient in Africa receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV can expect to live a near-normal lifespan."
JEAN NACHEGA：“我们研究总的关键发现是，非洲接受艾滋病抗逆转录病毒疗法患者的预期寿命能够达到接近正常水平。”
The study was released in Rome this week at a conference of the International AIDS Society. The findings appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
这项研究于本周在国际艾滋病学会罗马进行的一次会议上公布，研究结果刊登在《内科学年鉴》上（Annals of Internal Medicine）。
Over the last thirty years, the HIV/AIDS epidemic cut fifteen to twenty years or more from life expectancy rates in Africa. Dr. Nachega says in many countries these rates had risen sharply.
在过去的三十多年中，艾滋病的蔓延使非洲预期寿命缩短了15到20年以上。Nachega博士表示，这一数据在很多国家曾急剧上升。
JEAN NACHEGA: "All what we've been able to gain in the past with the access to clean water, expanded immunization programs were totally reversed with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. So now we are seeing some good news that investing in antiretroviral programs, those investments are now paying off."
JEAN NACHEGA：“在过去的时间里，我们通过提供洁净水，扩大免疫计划，完全扭转了艾滋病在非洲的蔓延。所以现在我们看到了一些投资于抗逆转录病毒项目的好消息，这些投资已经初见成效。”
The study took place in Uganda. There, life expectancy at birth is an average of about fifty-five years.
这项研究在乌干达进行。那里出生时的平均预期寿命约为55岁。
The study involved twenty-two thousand patients being treated for HIV. The results were promising but were different for men and women.
这项研究涉及了2.2万名接受艾滋病治疗的患者。治疗是有效的，但在男性和女性间存在差异。
At age twenty, life expectancy for men was another nineteen years. Women could expect to live thirty more years. At age thirty-five, men could expect to live to fifty-seven. Women could expect to live to sixty-seven.
对20岁患者来说，男性预期寿命能增加19年，而女性预计可以多活30年以上。对35岁患者来说，男性预计可以活到57岁，女性预计可以活到67岁。
Dr. Nachega says men generally start treatment later than women. By then the disease is less treatable.
Nachega博士说，男人通常比女性更晚接受治疗，这时候治愈机会更小。
JEAN NACHEGA: "Men spend more time looking for a job and spending more time away from their family to try to find a way to survive, I think may be one of the [reasons]. The second reason is obviously the issue about stigma, which is still quite affecting a majority of people in the community."
JEAN NACHEGA：“男子花更多时间远离家人寻找工作以试图维持生计，我认为这是其中一个原因。第二个原因明显和耻辱有关，这仍极大的影响了社会上的大多数人。”
Also, programs for pregnant women mean that women have more chances to get tested for HIV and to receive treatment.
此外，转为孕妇提供的艾滋病项目意味着女性有更多机会得到艾滋病检查和治疗。
Dr. Nachega says health officials need to deal with this "gender imbalance." He supports the idea of considering treatment for HIV/AIDS as a form of prevention.
Nachega博士表示说，卫生官员需要解决这种“性别失衡”。他支持将艾滋病治疗当作一种预防办法的观点。
JEAN NACHEGA: "We should no longer see treatment and prevention totally separately. Treatment, by itself, it is also part of prevention. Because by treating people, and hopefully treating them earlier, they are less likely to transmit the virus to their sexual partner."
JEAN NACHEGA：“我们应该不再将艾滋病治疗和预防视为两种完全独立的方式。治疗本身也是预防的一部分。因为通过治疗患者，并尽可能更早治疗，能够降低他们将病毒传播给性伴侣的机会。”
Studies also show that giving antiretroviral drugs to uninfected people can help protect them from HIV. Two studies released last week found that taking medication daily reduced the risk of infection in heterosexuals. An earlier study showed that it reduced the risk among gay men.
研究还表明，给未感染者提供抗逆转录病毒药物有助于防止感染。上周公布的两项研究发现，每天服用药物可以降低异性恋者感染的风险。早前的一项研究表明，它也能减少男同性恋者之间的感染风险。