VOA双语新闻2008年:Global Public Health Care(在线收听

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan says instability is threatening progress in public health. Dr. Chan reviewed the global health situation in an opening speech to the 34-member WHO Executive Board, which is meeting this week to tackle key global health issues.

 

世界卫生组织(WHO)总干事陈冯富珍表示,一些地区的动荡局势对公共卫生领域取得进步造成威胁。她在有34名成员的世界卫生组织执行董事会会议的开幕式上发表讲话,回顾了全球的卫生状况。世界卫生组织执行董事会本星期开会解决全球卫生问题。

The head of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan delivered a generally upbeat assessment of the global health situation. She told health experts attending the meeting there were good reasons to be optimistic about the prospects ahead.

 

世界卫生组织负责人陈冯富珍对全球卫生状况的估计总的来说比较乐观。她向出席会议的卫生专家表示,有很好的理由对前景感到乐观。

But, then added a sobering note. "We are seeing right now some stark evidence of the threat to health arising from instability and civil unrest," said Dr. Chan. "Such conditions disrupt routine health services and compromise special initiatives, as we have seen repeatedly with polio eradication."

 

但是,她也清醒地指出:“我们现在看到一些明显的证据,证明一些国家动荡和动乱的局面对卫生状况造成威胁。就像我们在消除天花的过程中多次看到的那样,这种状况中断了例行的卫生服务,危及到一些特别的项目。

"I am concerned, in particular, about the situation in Kenya, where support is urgently needed to ensure the continuity of routine health services and programs for HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases," she added.

 

我特别对肯尼亚的局势感到担忧。肯尼亚迫切需要支持,以确保例行的卫生服务和针对艾滋病和艾滋病毒、疟疾、肺结核、以及其它疾病的项目能继续下去。”


Dr. Chan also spoke about her concern for the Palestinian people in Gaza. Israel's closure of its border crossings in reaction to rocket attacks from militants in Gaza has resulted in a crippling shortage of fuel.

 

陈冯富珍博士也谈到她对生活在加沙地带的巴勒斯坦人民的担心。以色列为了报复加沙激进分子向以色列发射火箭,关闭了边界上的过境点,这造成加沙的燃油严重短缺。

She said disruptions in essential services are taking a heavy toll on people needing emergency care and those suffering from chronic diseases.

 

陈冯富珍说,对基本服务造成的困扰使紧急需要照料的人和慢性病患者付出沉重的代价。

The WHO chief then switched gears and presented a list of, what she called, qualified good news. She noted that the HIV/AIDS pandemic appears to have peaked and that anti-retroviral therapy is resulting in fewer deaths. But, she cautioned universal access to this treatment is still a distant goal.

 

陈冯富珍后来转换了话题,提到一系列她称之为“够格的好消息”。她指出,艾滋病和艾滋病毒的流行看来已经过了高峰期,抗反转录病毒疗法减少了死亡的人数。但是她告戒说,普通人能获得这种治疗仍然是个遥远的目标。

In another bit of good news, she said tuberculosis control efforts are paying off. She said after more than a decade of steady increase, the disease appears to have stabilized in some parts of the world and may now be declining.

 

在另一个好消息方面,陈冯富珍说,控制肺结核传播的努力取得了成效。肺结核病例在十年多以来稳步增加之后,看来已经在世界上的一些地区稳定下来,可能正在下降。

But, she warned against complacency. She said TB remains a major killer and is responsible for around 1.4 million preventable deaths each year.

 

但是,陈冯富珍告戒人们不要自满。她说,肺结核仍然是引起患者死亡的一个主要疾病,每年有大约140万人因为患肺结核而死亡,而这种死亡本来是可以避免的。

"We need to remember that both of these high-mortality diseases now impose their greatest burden on Africa," said Dr. Chan. "The same is true for malaria. Progress will not be measured by global averages. It will be measured by how well we improve the health of the African people. For malaria, we have many reasons for optimism following better coverage with bed nets and use of the newer strategy for home-based management."

 

陈冯富珍说:“我们要记住,这两种死亡率高的疾病现在给非洲造成最大的负担。疟疾也是这种情况。不能用全球的平均数字来衡量进步,要用我们在改进非洲人民的卫生状况方面做得如何来衡量。至于疟疾,在更多地使用蚊帐和使用比较新的策略进行以家庭为基础的管理之后,我们有很多理由感到乐观。”

While existing diseases still remain to be overcome, Dr. Chan told delegates at the conference that some of the biggest challenges ahead would come from emerging and epidemic-prone diseases. She noted that the threat posed by avian influenza has not gone away and countries must remain vigilant and prepare for a potential pandemic.

 

虽然仍然存在一些疾病要去克服,陈冯富珍博士向出席会议的代表们表示,未来一些最大的挑战将来自新出现的、容易流行的疾病。她指出,禽流感构成的威胁还没有消除,各国必须保持警惕,为禽流感可能大流行做准备

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/voabn/2008/01/117127.html