VOA慢速英语 Health Report - The Global Snakebite Initiative Is W

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

More than four million people around the world are bitten by snakes each year. At least one hundred twenty-five thousand of these people die. Almost three million others are seriously injured. Doctors and researchers say the world does not provide enough good treatment for poisonous snakebites. To help improve the situation, experts have formed an international project called the Global Snakebite Initiative¹.
　
Laboratory workers in Costa Rica collect venom² from a highly poisonous Fer de Lance snake. The venom is used to make a treatment for the snake's bite.

Poisonous snakebites are common in rural areas of many developing countries with hot climates. Many victims are agricultural workers and children in Asia and southern Africa. Shortages³ of antivenom medicines, the treatment for snakebite, are common there. Existing supplies may not be high quality or developed correctly for local needs.

Ken⁴ Winkel directs the University of Melbourne's Australian Venom Research Unit. Doctor Winkel and university scientist David Williams are among the organizers of the Global Snakebite Initiative. Other project leaders are from Britain, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Singapore.

The International Society of Toxinology officially supported the Initiative last month at the World Congress of Plant, Animal and Microbial Toxins⁵ in Recife, Brazil.

Doctor Winkel says antivenom treatment is too costly⁶ for many poor people who need it most. The drugs are developed from the venom of poisonous snakes.

The Global Snakebite Initiative is trying to increase the availability of good quality antivenom treatments and improve medical training for patient care. Another goal is to help manufacturers of antivenom medicines improve their products.

The project also wants communities to learn about snakebites and first aid. It wants more research and reporting systems. And it aims to help national health officials choose antivenoms for their countries' special needs.

The antivenom that cures the bite of one kind of snake may not be effective for another kind of snake. And the medicines for a cobra bite in the Philippines may not work for someone bitten by a similar snake in West Africa.

Experts look forward to improvements in worldwide treatment for snakebite. But they say the best ways to reduce death and injury from snakebites are education and prevention.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

1 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

2 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

3 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

5 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。