Health Report - AIDS Study Called 2011 'Breakthrough'
健康报道 - 一项艾滋病研究被评为2011年“年度突破”
This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
The journal Science chose an AIDS study as the twenty-eleven "Breakthrough of the Year." The study found that antiretroviral drugs can greatly lower the risk of spreading HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It showed that infected people with early treatment were ninety-six percent less likely to infect their partners.
《科学》杂志评选一项艾滋病研究作为2011年的“年度突破”。该研究发现，抗逆转录病毒药物可以极大地降低艾滋病毒传播的风险。这表明，接受早期治疗的感染者感染其性伴侣的几率要低96%。
The study was a clinical trial known as HPTN 052. Myron Cohen led an international team that began the study in two thousand seven and announced the results last May. But Dr. Cohen says the work really began twenty years ago.
该研究是一项被称为HPTN 052的临床试验。迈伦·科恩（Myron Cohen）领导的一个国际研究小组于2007年开始了这项研究，并于去年5月宣布了研究结果。科恩表示，这项研究工作真正开始于20年前。
MYRON COHEN: "We had a strong suspicion based on all the biological studies we had done that when we treat people and lower the concentration of HIV in the blood and secretions, we were rendering them less contagious. But we didn’t understand the magnitude of the benefit. It blows a gigantic wind behind the idea that treatment will serve as prevention."
科恩：“我们强烈怀疑，基于我们在治疗病人和降低血液及分泌物中艾滋病毒的浓度时所做的所有生物实验，我们降低了它们的传染性。但我们不清楚其受益程度。它让我们突发想象：治疗可以用作预防。”
Dr. Cohen is director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases paid for the study.
科恩博士是北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校全球卫生和传染病研究所所长。美国国立过敏和传染病研究所为该研究提供资金。
The study involved heterosexual couples in nine countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The results have already had an effect on government policies. Those changes include treating HIV-infected people when their immune systems are still relatively healthy.
该研究涉及了生活在非洲、亚洲和美洲9个国家的异性伴侣。研究结果已经影响到政府的政策。这些变化包括在艾滋病病毒感染者的免疫系统仍相对健康时对他们进行治疗。
MYRON COHEN: "This particular 052 study in the last six months has generated policy changes at the level of the United States and the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. And it's inspired new community-based clinical trials that are just about to be launched that apply the scientific discovery. So when you do a single study and it receives so much recognition, and then seems to inform policy in a dramatic way, you think, OK, this was twenty years well-spent."
科恩：“过去6个月，052这一特殊研究已经在美国、世界卫生组织和联合国艾滋病规划署这一层面上产生了政策变化。它也启发了正要推行的应用了科学发现的基于社区的新临床试验。因此当你从事一项单一研究并得到这么多的认可，然后似乎又以一种戏剧性方式影响到政策，你就会认为这20年功夫没白费。”
Dr. Cohen says the study results will be wasted unless they are linked to other areas of HIV treatment and prevention.
科恩博士表示，如果不和其它方面的艾滋病病毒治疗和预防相结合，这一研究结果就将被浪费。
MYRON COHEN: "So the 052 study kind of lends itself to understanding that if we don't know who's positive and negative, there's no benefit. If people aren't linked to care, there's no benefit. If they aren't provided drugs, there's no benefit. If they receive the drugs but don't take the pills, there's no benefit. So this cascade is now the focus of our attention."
科恩：“052研究有点儿便于理解，如果我们不知道谁是阴性和阳性，如果人们不与治疗挂钩，如果不给他们提供药物，如果他们得到了药物却不吃，都不会从中受益。所以这一系列问题是我们现在关注的焦点。”
AIDS activist Mitchell Warren was among those who welcomed the results.
艾滋病活动家米切尔·沃伦（Mitchell Warren）是欢迎这一研究结果的人士之一。
MITCHELL WARREN: "Treatment is prevention. And that becomes a fundamentally different conversation because for many years debates have waged whether we should do treatment or prevention. And the results of the HPTN 052 study actually affirm once and for all that treatment is prevention."
沃伦：“治疗就是预防，这成为了一种本质不同的对话。因为多年来一直辩论我们是否应该进行治疗和预防。HPTN 052研究的结果实际上彻底肯定了治疗就是预防。”
Science also recognized nine other scientific developments last year. You can find the list at voanews.cn. They include progress on a malaria vaccine and research on the DNA of our ancient ancestors. They also include a study of cells that have stopped dividing. It found that clearing them from the bodies of mice can delay some of the effects of aging.
《科学》杂志还表扬了去年的另9项科技发展。你可以在voanews.cn网站上找到该名单。这其中包括疟疾疫苗以及我们远古祖先的DNA研究的进展。还包括一项已经停止分裂的细胞的研究，该研究发现，从老鼠身体中清除这种细胞后，可以延缓衰老。
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Faith Lapidus.
___
Contributing: Joe De Capua |