VOA慢速英语:Children of AIDS Face Mental Health Needs

Thirty years ago this week, public health officials in the United States reported on the first cases of what came to be known as AIDS. There is growing progress against the epidemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
30年前这一周，美国公共卫生官员报道了第一个后来被称为艾滋病病例。越来越多对抗获得性免疫缺陷综合症的措施取得进展。

But today an estimated sixteen and a half million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions more live with adults who are sick from AIDS.
但是现在，估计有1650万儿童的单亲或父母因患艾滋病而去世。他们中大部分人居住在撒哈拉以南非洲地区。数百万儿童跟患有艾滋病的成人居住在一起。

Lucie Cluver from Oxford University in England has studied AIDS orphans and children living with sick adults in South Africa. She says children can be deeply affected by their experiences.
来自英国牛津大学的Lucie Cluver研究了南非地区艾滋病孤儿和跟成人患者居住在一起的儿童。她称，儿童会深深受到他们的经历的影响。

LUCIE CLUVER: "And one of the biggest impacts we see is mental health, their psychological health. So, for example, we see that AIDS orphaned children have very much higher levels of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder than children who have a live parent or children whose parents have died of other causes, including homicide or suicide.”
Lucie Cluver：“其中，我们看到的影响最大的是心理健康——他们的心理健康。所以，例如，我们看到，比起那些生活在单亲家庭或父母死于其他疾病的儿童，艾滋病孤儿更可能患上抑郁症，焦虑症和创伤或精神紧张症，甚至包括杀人或自杀。”

Lucie Cluver has just written about this problem in the journal Nature. She says children have to live with the stigma, the sense of shame connected to AIDS. Many are bullied at school or excluded from the community.
Lucie Cluver刚好在《自然》杂志上写到这个问题。她说儿童们不得不生活在与
艾滋病联系在一起的羞耻的社会中。许多孩子在学校受到欺负或被社会所排斥。

At home, children living with a sick adult are more likely to live in poverty and face physical and emotional abuse. Also, Lucie Cluver says the children often become the caregivers.
在家，孩子们跟患有艾滋病的成人居住在一起，更可能过着贫穷的生活和遭到身体和精神虐待。同样，Lucie Cluver称，儿童经常成为照顾者。

LUCIE CLUVER: “They’re missing school to go and get medication.  They’re washing the sick person. They’re often taking them to the toilet, cleaning their wounds or washing their bedclothes. So these kids find it very stressful and upsetting. They’re very worried about the health and feel responsible for the health of the sick person.”
Lucie Cluver：“他们旷课去拿药。他们帮患者洗澡，经常扶他们去上厕所，帮他们清洁伤口或清洗他们的床上用品。所以，这些孩子觉得这非常有压力和令人心烦意乱。他们非常担心健康问题，并觉得自己应该对患者的健康负责。”

Close contact with sick adults can sometimes spread tuberculosis or other diseases. And, as Lucie Cluver told reporter Art Chimes, even when the children are in school, paying attention can be difficult.
跟成人患者亲密接触有时会染上肺结核或其他疾病。而且，正如Lucie Cluver告诉记者Art Chimes，即使当孩子们在学校，也很难集中精力学习。

LUCIE CLUVER: "It’s constantly on their minds and really making it difficult for them to do well at school.”
Lucie Cluver：“这些一直在他们脑海中出现，是真正导致他们在学校不能表现得很好原因。”

REPORTER: "And the children are telling you this?"
记者：“孩子们跟你说这些吗？”

LUCIE CLUVER: "Absolutely, it’s one of the things that they tell us first. It’s one of their greatest concerns."
Lucie Cluver：“当然，这是他们首先告诉我们的事情之一。这是他们最关心的事。”

Her research suggests that psychological problems increase as AIDS orphans get older.
她的研究表明，随着艾滋病孤儿长大，他们的心理问题会更严重。

Writing in Nature, she calls for testing more children for tuberculosis. She also calls for giving more parents the drugs needed to keep them healthy longer with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
在《自然》中，她呼吁为更多儿童检测是否患上肺结核。她也呼吁给更多父母所需的治疗导致艾滋病的HIV病毒的药物，使他们活得更久。

There are programs to help children, but Lucie Cluver says there is "far more to be done." She says interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy and support groups are "urgently needed" for those orphaned by AIDS or living with sick adults. But the evidence for which interventions are effective "is still thin," she says.
有一些帮助儿童的项目，但是Lucie Cluver说这“远远不够”。她说像认知行为治疗和支持团体这些干预措施对那些爱滋病孤儿或跟成人患者居住在一起的儿童来说是迫切需要的。但是证明哪种干预措施有效的证据还不充分，她说。