DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Infertility in the Developing World

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Infertility¹ in the Developing World
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Monday, March 22, 2004

This is Bob Doughty³ with the VOA Special English Development Report.

A man and a woman are considered infertile⁴ if they cannot produce a pregnancy⁵ after twelve months of trying. For centuries, the lack of ability to have children was blamed only on women. Scientists now know that men, too, can be infertile.

The organization PATH says infertility affects an estimated sixty-million to eighty-million people. It says the great majority live in developing countries. PATH is the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health. This non-profit group is in Seattle, Washington.

There are many different causes of infertility. Some are genetic⁶. Others involve physical problems or injuries. Still others are environmental, like pesticides⁷ and other chemicals. Experts say diet and the use of alcohol and drugs can also affect fertility.

Some of these causes are preventable. So are others, such as infections spread through sex. Dirty conditions during childbirth can also cause infections that make women infertile. So can unsafe ways to end unwanted pregnancies⁸. And so can the tradition in some cultures of cutting the female sex organs.

In industrial countries, the best-known current treatment for infertility is a process called in vitro fertilization. This involves joining an egg with sperm⁹ in a laboratory. Once fertilized¹⁰, the egg is placed in the woman to develop into a fetus¹¹. Treatments can also involve the use of fertility drugs to increase the production of eggs.

But experts say cultural and religious beliefs may prevent people from seeking modern treatments. In Italy, for example, a new law took effect this month. The Medically Assisted Reproduction Law restricts or bans the use of many kinds of technologies. In other societies, people often blame evil spirits when a couple cannot have children. So people seek traditional treatments.

In any case, technologies for assisted reproduction cost thousands of dollars. So public health systems usually do not offer them. Many experts say public health systems should do more to educate people about preventable causes of infertility. These include sexually transmitted diseases.

The experts also say doctors should require an examination of both the man and the woman when a couple is infertile. The group PATH says men are the cause, or part of the cause, of infertility in more than half of couples.

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

1 infertility   

n.不肥沃，不毛；不育

参考例句：

• It is the Geneva, Switzerland-based Biotech Company's second recombinant infertility drug. 它是瑞士生物技术公司在日内瓦的公司生产的第二种重组治疗不孕症的药。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术制药疫苗
• Endometritis is a cause of infertility. 子宫内膜炎是不育的原子。 来自辞典例句

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 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

4 infertile   

adj.不孕的；不肥沃的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• Plants can't grow well in the infertile land.在贫瘠的土地上庄稼长不好。
• Nobody is willing to till this infertile land.这块薄田没有人愿意耕种。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

6 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

7 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

9 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

10 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

11 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。