There is good reason to be optimistic about eliminating HIV/AIDS, says an editorial in New Scientist.
《新科學家》的一篇社論說，有很好的理由對根除艾滋病保持樂觀。
The strongest hope lies in a potential "cure" based on gene therapy, it says. US company Sangamo Biosciences is developing a gene therapy to emulate the effect of a bone marrow transplant that "vanquished" the virus in an HIV patient. If it works, patients could be cured with a single shot of gene therapy instead of a lifetime of antiretroviral therapy (ART), says the editorial.
它說最大的希望在於一種可能的“治癒”艾滋病的基因療法。美國的Sangamo生物科學公司正在開發一種模仿骨髓移植效應的基因療法，從而“擊敗”艾滋病病毒感染者體內的病毒。該社論說，如果它是可行的，患者不需要終身接受抗逆轉錄病毒治療（ART），而只需接受一針的基因治療就可痊癒。#p#副標題#e#
And ARTs are themselves a reason for optimism, it adds. According to the WHO, existing ARTs could eliminate HIV in Africa by 2050 — if accompanied by regular testing and quick treatments. Such a long-term programme would be expensive but at US$85 billion, the cost is a fraction of the US$700 billion recently spent to bail out US banks.
它還說，而ARTs本身也是讓人感到樂觀的理由。根據世界衛生組織，到2050年，現有的ARTs可以在非洲消滅艾滋病——如果伴隨着定期測試和快速治療的話。這種長期項目是昂貴的，但是860億美元的價格只是近來美國挽救美國銀行所用的7000億美元的一小部分。
And ART prices could fall. GlaxoSmithKline has said it will offer poor countries all its medicines at 25 per cent less than the typical price in the developed world.
而ART的價格可能下降。葛蘭素史克公司說它將爲窮國以發達國家典型藥價25%以下的價格提供其所有藥物。
With enough time and money, the editorial concludes we can finally start to rid the world of HIV/AIDS.
這篇社論得出結論說，有了足夠的時間和金錢，我們終於可以開始讓全世界擺脫艾滋病。
