《中英對照讀新聞》AIDS leaves 9 mln African children without mothers 愛滋病讓900萬非洲兒童沒媽媽

◎ 陳成良

Some 9 million children in Africa have lost a mother to AIDS, British charity Save the Children said.

愛滋病讓約900萬非洲兒童失去母親，英國慈善團體「拯救兒童」表示。

The charity said in a report that a lack of testing facilities meant that many mothers, especially in the poorest countries, did not know their HIV status until they were ill and were unable to fight off even the simplest infections.

該慈善團體在一份報告中指出，缺乏檢驗設備意味著許多母親，特別是住在最貧窮國家的母親，直到發病後才知道她們被愛滋病毒（HIV）感染的狀況，而且甚至無法抵抗最輕微的感染。

The charity called for a focus on children orphaned by AIDS as well as sick parents, adding red tape was slowing aid flows.

該組織呼籲（大家）重視愛滋病肆虐下的孤兒及染病的父母親，並指出沒有效率的行政作業拖慢了援助流程。

More than 3 million Africans were infected with HIV in 2005, representing 64 percent of all new infections globally and more than in any previous year, according to UNAIDS, the lead U.N. agency against AIDS.

逾300萬非洲人在2005年感染HIV，佔全球全部新感染人數64％，而且人數比之前任何一年都多，據聯合國主要防治愛滋病機構「聯合國愛滋病計畫署」指出。

Across sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 4.6 percent of young women aged 15 to 24 are infected with HIV, compared to 1.7 percent of young men, according to U.N. data. Save the Children said most of the 19.2 million women living with HIV around the globe were already mothers.

據聯合國的資料指出，在撒哈拉以南的非洲地區，估計15至24歲婦女中感染HIV的比例達4.6％，相較之下，年輕男性感染比率為1.9％。「拯救兒童」表示，全球各地感染HIV的1920萬名婦女，多數已是為人之母。

新聞辭典

HIV：Human Immunodeficiency Virus的縮寫，即「人類免疫缺陷病毒」，通常稱為愛滋病毒，因為感染這種病毒會導致愛滋病（AIDS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome，後天性免疫不全症候群）。

red tape：慣用語，指「官僚作風」或「繁文縟節」。red tape字面意義為「紅帶子」，以前英國官方文件習慣用紅色帶子綑紮，red tape的比喻由此而來。

sub-Saharan Africa：撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲地區。