Cholera Operations in Haiti Seriously Under-funded

    The United Nations is holding a special meeting with donor¹ countries to drum up support for its cholera² treatment and control operations in Haiti. It says it has received less than half of the $175 million it needs to carry out its life-saving programs in the country.
    The United Nations reports cholera cases throughout Haiti are slowly declining. But says the emergency(紧急情况,突发事件) is far from over, as the death rate in remote rural areas remains³ very high.
    Latest figures from the Haitian government cite more than 231,000 reported cases and more than 4,500 cholera deaths since the epidemic⁴ began in October.
    Health agencies say this is the first outbreak of cholera in Haiti in at least 100 years. But the agencies warn now that it is present in the country, cholera will continue to be a problem for months and years to come.
    U.N. Office for the Coordination(协调,配合) of Humanitarian⁵ Affairs spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says it is critical to strengthen treatment programs. She says the shortage of non-governmental agencies to treat the sick in difficult to reach mountain villages is very worrisome.
    “There are two aspects of this problem,” Byrs said. “Some NGOs are working in emergency relief assistance. And, these NGOs have finished their job and now they leave. But some of them need funding, they have not even enough funding to implement⁶ their projects. That is why we urgently need the money for our appeal, which is $175 million.”
    The World Health Organization says it is trying to keep the anti-cholera efforts from collapsing⁷. The U.N. says it has received about $80 million, less than half of its appeal.
    WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib says her agency is working with the Haitian Ministry⁸ of Health to replace NGOs that were running cholera centers. She says these vital projects are increasingly being integrated in the country’s overall health-management programs.
    “There is an exit strategy put in place by WHO as the lead health organization with the Ministry of Health that the cholera centers can be run by the local health authorities ... at the beginning, it was a new disease for the country,” Chaib said. “So, they needed really to learn how to manage it. Now, it is done. Many people know how to not get infected by cholera.”
    Chaib says WHO is concerned about the possible spread of cholera during the upcoming Carnival⁹ season from contaminated food and drink. She says health authorities are running an information campaign warning people of the dangers and providing tips on how they can protect themselves from getting the disease.
    When cholera first erupted, mortality rates were as high as nine percent. National mortality rates are now down to two percent. And, spokeswoman Chaib says the World health Organization is working to bring that rate to less than one percent.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

2 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。