DEVELOPMENT REPORT - World Bank Announces Plan to Improve An

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - World Bank Announces Plan to Improve Anti-Malaria¹ Efforts
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Monday, May 02, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

The World Bank has announced a new plan to help fight malaria. The international lender says the fight against the disease has been too slow and uneven³.

 
 
The goal is to expand access to anti-malarial drugs and preventions such as bed nets treated with chemicals that kill mosquitoes. Those insects spread the organism that causes an estimated five hundred million cases of malaria each year. Most are in southern Africa. The disease is getting more difficult to fight as the organism develops resistance to traditional treatments.

The new Global Strategy and Booster Program announced by the World Bank will include a special committee. Its job will be to make sure that anti-malaria efforts are part of lending programs.

World Bank officials estimate that five hundred million to one thousand million dollars in spending is possible over the next five years. The announcement took place on April twenty-fourth, Africa Malaria Day.

The World Health Organization says malaria kills more than one million people a year. Most of the victims are children under the age of five. Pregnant women are also at greater risk from the disease.

Africa pays a huge economic price for malaria. The W.H.O says the disease costs Africa about twelve thousand million dollars a year in lost productivity. The health agency says malaria has slowed development on the continent.

The new program announced by the World Bank also will increase help to other areas affected⁴ by malaria. Southeast Asia has the second highest death rate from the disease. About eight percent of malaria deaths happen in that part of the world.

Jean-Louis Sarbib is a top official at the World Bank. He calls the new plan "good for reducing human suffering and good for economic growth." When adults get sick, they have to stop working. Mister Sarbib points out that when children and teachers become infected, education also suffers as a result of malaria.

World Bank officials say they are building on lessons learned from malaria control programs in Brazil, Eritrea, India and Vietnam. Mister Sarbib says much progress has been in some places, but efforts have been slower and more limited than expected.

The United Nations Millennium⁵ Development Goals aim to reduce deaths among children and pregnant women. Malaria control is one way to do that.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

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 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。