VOA慢速英语20060329a

HEALTH REPORT - Increased Efforts Urged to Fight TuberculosisBy Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, March 29, 2006

I'm Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Almost two million people every year die from tuberculosis¹. Almost nine million develop new cases.


lungs with tb

Experts say about one-third of the world's population is infected with TB. People who are infected might never develop an active case. They might never get sick from the infection. But enough do get sick that the World Health Organization declared tuberculosis a worldwide emergency in nineteen ninety-three.

Southeast Asia has the largest number of new TB cases. But southern Africa has the highest rates of the disease², almost two times that of Asia.

Last week the W.H.O. released³ a progress report for World TB Day, observed each year on March twenty-fourth. The report praises twenty-six countries worldwide for meeting their goals on tuberculosis control. They include Vietnam and the Philippines. Both have high TB rates.

Still, the report says the number of cases worldwide is rising one percent a year as a result of the TB crisis⁴ in Africa. TB kills more than five hundred thousand people there every year. W.H.O. officials praised Kenya for emergency measures. But they say African leaders need to invest⁵ more to control tuberculosis.

TB is the leading cause of death among people with H.I.V. and AIDS. More than twenty-seven million people in Africa are infected with H.I.V, the virus that causes AIDS. People with H.I.V. lose their natural resistance⁶ to disease.

TB is a bacterial⁷ infection. It is spread through the air when a person with an active case coughs or sneezes. Possible signs include a bad cough for three weeks or more and pain in the chest. Others are coughing up blood and sweating at night.

Tuberculosis can be cured with medicines. In many countries, though, experts say incorrect or incomplete⁸ treatment of TB is creating drug-resistant forms. They say drug-resistant TB is now in almost every country and is hurting worldwide success rates.

In January, the Global Plan to Stop TB was launched⁹. This is a ten-year plan. It calls for countries to invest fifty-six thousand million dollars to help nations identify and treat new cases. Officials say the first new TB drug in forty years could be ready in two thousand ten. The World Health Organization says the Global Plan to Stop TB, if fully¹⁰ supported, could save fourteen million lives.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Shep O'Neal.

1 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

2 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

3 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

4 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

5 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。

6 resistance   

n.抵抗力，反抗，反抗行动；阻力，电阻；反对；adj.抵抗的

参考例句：

• Very little resistance was put up by the enemy.敌人没怎么进行抵抗。
• An aircraft has to overcome the resistance of the air.飞机须克服空气的阻力。

7 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

8 incomplete   

adj.不完全的，不完善的

参考例句：

• The building was left incomplete.那座楼没有完工就停下来了。
• His novel was incomplete when he died.他死的时候他的小说没有写完。

9 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。