The project is intended to explore the best ways to use drones to transport medicine and blood samples.

该项目主要用于探索无人机运送药物和血样的最佳路径。

Malawi's government will operate the testing center in cooperation with United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF. It is the first center of its kind in Africa.

马拉维政府将与联合国儿童基金会共同运作这个中心，这也是位于非洲的首家测试中心。

Officials from the government and UNICEF held a launch ceremony last week in the capital Lilongwe. Flights are expected to be fully operating by April 2017. The drones will be carrying materials as far as 40 kilometers.

马拉维政府和联合国儿童基金会的有关人员上周在首都利隆圭进行了启动仪式。该中心预计到2017年4月全面展开飞行。这种无人机能够运送物资最远至40公里开外。

The most immediate¹ use of drones in Malawi will be to help speed up the identification of HIV in babies. HIV is the virus that causes the disease AIDS.

无人机在马拉维最直接的应用，是帮助加快对婴儿的艾滋病毒（艾滋病毒会导致艾滋病）检测。

Malawi has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world, especially among babies and children. Each year, about 10,000 children die in Malawi of HIV, according to UNICEF.

马拉维是全球艾滋病毒感染率最高的国家之一，尤其是在婴儿和儿童之中感染率最高。联合国儿童基金会称马拉维每年大约有1万名儿童死于艾滋病。

Currently, it can take up to 11 days to transport blood samples to laboratories by motorcycle or ambulance. It can then take another four weeks for blood test results to be returned.

目前，使用摩托车或救护车运送血样到实验室需要长达11天的时间。然后血液检查结果返回又需要四周时间。

UNICEF officials are hoping the drone flights will save many lives by cutting the time it takes to get HIV test results. It is important for infected children to get treatment as soon as possible to increase their chances for survival.

联合国儿童基金会官员希望，无人机能缩短获得艾滋病毒检测结果的时间以拯救更多生命。尽快治疗受感染儿童很重要。

In March, UNICEF-Malawi successfully completed its first drone test flight. A drone traveled 10 kilometers to deliver materials from a community health center to a hospital in Lilongwe.

今年3月份，联合国儿童基金会和马拉维成功完成了第一次无人机试飞测试。一架无人机飞行了10公里，把物资从社区保健中心顺利送到了利隆圭的一家医院。

Drones also will be tested to see if they can support transportation² and collect information. These are important tasks in Malawi, where severe droughts and flooding can make damage assessments³ difficult during emergencies.

无人机还将进行后续测试，以测试它们是否支持运输和收集信息。以上是马拉维重要的任务。马拉维严重的干旱和洪水，可能会使紧急情况下的灾害评估变得更困难。

Drone aircraft are also being used in other parts of Africa to transport blood, medicine and humanitarian⁴ supplies.

非洲其它地区也在使用无人机运送血液、药品和人道主义救助物资。

Earlier this year, the Rwandan government signed a deal to cooperate with a U.S.-based company to transport supplies to medical centers across the country.

今年早些时候，卢旺达政府同一家总部设在美国的公司签下协议，旨在将物资运送到全国各地的医疗中心。

In Madagascar, drones fly blood and laboratory materials from rural villages to a research station for testing. The aircraft help doctors speed up the identification of disease in patients and make quick deliveries of vaccines⁵.

在马达加斯加，无人机将血样和化验材料从农村运往研究站进行检测。这些飞机将会帮助医生加速对病人的诊断，并快速交付疫苗。