VOA标准英语2012--Aging HIV/AIDS Survivors Create New Class of Patients

Aging HIV/AIDS Survivors¹ Create New Class of Patients

In sub-Saharan Africa, antiretroviral treatment (ART) has reduced the mortality rate among HIV-infected people by 20 percent. Many of the people receiving treatment who are now in their forties are expected to live well into their sixties.

Dr. Till Barnighausen, of the Harvard School of Public Health, says there is a need to recognize this population and their unique health issues, issues which did not exist until recently.

"We are now in a lucky situation that people infected with HIV in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa live to old ages," said Barnighausen. "But with this prediction comes the challenge to prepare health and social systems to adequately respond to this new population, which will come into being over the coming decades."

Dr. Barnighausen says these people will have special disease burdens, and their treatment will require special expertise². For instance, new clinical trials are needed to learn whether antiretroviral treatments could interfere³ with drugs that HIV patients might be taking for other chronic⁴ conditions, such as diabetes⁵ and cardiovascular disease. 

"In old age this is really compounded by the fact that the physiology⁶ changes over the life course, by the fact that adherence⁷ to treatment might become reduced in older age. There are very specialized⁸ needs that have to be met in older patients," said Barnighausen.

Dr. R. J. Simmonds is Vice⁹ President at Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a group committed to fighting HIV and AIDS specifically in women and children. He says the issue of aging has emerged as a new challenge of the HIV epidemic¹⁰. 

"We are seeing that people are developing certain types of cancers at a higher rate - the combination of HIV and the treatment for HIV is leading to higher rates for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Osteoporosis," Simmonds noted¹¹.

These older patients will put new demands on the health care system. Public health experts say that treatment services established in response to the AIDS epidemic will need to expand to address the unique health problems of the world's aging HIV/AIDS population. 

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

3 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

7 adherence   

n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着

参考例句：

• He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
• The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。

8 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

11 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。