DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Measles in Africa

DEVELOPMENT REPORT – February 25, 2002: Measles¹ in Africa

By Jill Moss²

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Five leading public health organizations have announced a campaign to reduce the number of deaths among
children in Africa caused by measles. The American Red Cross is leading this effort. Its goal is to save the lives
of more than one-million children over the next five years. Officials hope to give vaccine³ medicines to prevent
measles to more than two-hundred-million children.

Measles attacks the skin surfaces and the body’s defense⁴ system against disease. It
also can cause blindness and brain damage. Measles is the single leading cause of
death among children in Africa. It kills more than four-hundred-fifty-thousand
children in Africa each year. Yet it can be easily prevented with a simple vaccine
medicine.

Danny Tarantola (tah-RAHN-to-lah) is the Director of Vaccines⁵ at the World Health
Ugandan child awaits Organization. He says measles is seen in many African communities as the one

immunization

(Photo - Daniel Cima/Red disease that tests the survival of children. Doctor Tarantola says in some
Cross) communities children will not be given a name unless they have survived the

disease.The American Red Cross has joined four other organizations in the
campaign against measles. They are the United States Centers for Disease Control, the World Health
Organization, the United Nations Foundation, and the U-N Children’s Fund. The five groups have promised
two-hundred-million dollars for the campaign. That is about one-dollar for each child.

Officials say the campaign really began last year. More than twenty-million children received the measles
vaccine in Tanzania, Uganda, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Cameroon. Officials say the
campaign reached ninety-five percent of the children in those countries and saved more than one-hundred-fortythousand lives. Officials now plan to target fifty-three-million children in twelve more countries this year.

Health officials hope to follow a model used during a successful campaign against the disease polio. They say the
polio operation helped build a support system in Africa that the measles campaign will use. Officials are carrying
out the effort against measles in Africa first because the need is greatest. However, they hope to extend the
campaign to other parts of the world.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.

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1 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。