Directions: Read the following passage. Complete the diagram by using the information for the passage. Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.
Aids today
Aids, the short form for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is caused by a virus called HIV, which enters a person’s blood and attacks the body’s immune (免疫的) system. There is no cure for HIV or Aids, and after a person has been infected, he or she will always carry the virus. Sometimes, infected people have no outward symptoms.
HIV and Aids are spreading across the world at a frightening rate, with about 14,000 people being infected daily. The virus is spread in three ways -- through unprotected sex, blood-blood contact and mother-to-child transmission. Unprotected sex is the most common way that the virus is spread, accounting for 75 percent of adult infections worldwide.
Although many people are familiar with Aids and how it is transmitted, more than a few people hold the view that HIV and Aids are an African problem because the infection rates there are very high. However, HIV and Aids are a problem all over the world. Since the disease was discovered in the 1980s, it has become a serious problem in many places, infecting over 60 million people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization estimates from 2005, more than 4 million children had died from Aids, and more than 14 million children had lost their parents to Aids. All of this makes it clear that something must be done to stop this deadly disease.
The government is working hard to control the Aids epidemic and has opened labs to test and monitor the disease. In 2003, the government also started providing free drugs for Aids patients in need.
The United Nations has been very involved in fighting HIV and Aids around the world for many years now. UNAIDS, an organization founded in 1996, helps prevent the spread of Aids. The work includes providing infected people with help from doctors and testing for people. The organization also offers programs that teach Aids prevention to young people and sets up treatment centers.
