2006年VOA标准英语-US Navy Hospital Treats Poor in Philippines

By Douglas Bakshian
Manila
29 May 2006
 
The U.S. Navy Hospital ship Mercy is sending personnel and equipment to victims of the earthquake in Indonesia. The ship, which has a history of helping¹ out in disasters, is now in the Philippines at the start of a Southeast Asian tour. In southern Mindanao island hundreds of people turned out at a clinic on land sponsored by the Mercy, while major surgery was conducted on board the ship.

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Navy Lt. Cmdr. Elizabeth Ferrara, pediatrician, checks a young boy's vital signs onboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy, Saturday, May 27, 2006, in the southern Philippines city of Zamboanga
  
Recodo, general check ups, medication and dental care. Organizers planned for 600 hundred patients but at least 15 hundred showed up.

One of them is 58-year-old Zoraya Abdullah who has come in for an eye check up, something she has not had in 10 years. Her joints² also hurt and she suspects arthritis³.

Zoraya says poor Filipinos do not have the money for proper medical care or medicine, and often must choose between getting treatment and eating.

"If we have no money we cannot go [to a] doctor. Just consultation⁴ [cost] 250 pesos [about $5] Medicine, how we can buy? Maybe [it costs] 2,000-3,000 [pesos, or $40 to $60] like that. [We have] money for food, for eating only. We pray to God, we are Muslim," she said.

Patients are being treated by dozens of medical staff from the Mercy hospital ship. Staff members from local hospitals are taking part as well.

Getting enough medication is a problem for poor. Doctor Rodel Agvoles, the Zamboanaga city health officer, says the city health care system can only afford limited doses.

"Whenever they think foreigners, not only Americans, come for a medical mission they will expect more complete medications. They will expect a complete dose [of] antibiotics⁵, a complete dose of vitamins, because when we do a medical mission we usually only give starter doses," he said.

The Recodo Baranggay, or district, has a population of 10,000 to 14,000 people. Their health care is provided by one public health doctor who makes rounds once per week.

Dental care is also lacking. Hundreds of people came for the free dental treatment provided by the Mercy. The head of the Dental Division of the Mercy mission, Navy Commander Jan Delorey-Lytle, says many teeth needed pulling.

"Rampant⁶ decay, loose teeth, broken down teeth, unserviceable teeth. This is [was]mainly all extractions today. No fillings, everyone was extractions. We probably did, I am going to take a guess, 500 people, maybe 1500 teeth," she said.

The Mercy ship mission also provides surgery. Many operations are conducted at a local hospital by doctors from the Mercy. More complicated surgery, such as for stomach, eye, and thyroid illnesses, or for facial deformities (cleft⁷ lip and cleft Pallet), are performed in operating rooms on the ship.

The ship is huge. It is a converted oil tanker⁸ the length of three football fields with a capacity for a thousand hospital beds.

It was originally designed to treat major casualties during U.S. military operations. But on its current humanitarian⁹ mission it is operating on a smaller scale with only 40 beds for patients.

Air Force Lt. Col. Doris Wong, of Las Vegas, Nev., performs an eye exam for a patient at the Zamboanga Medical Center, May 27, 2006   
  
Fifty-two-year-old Sitti Sabdani spent two days on the ship for cataract¹⁰ surgery on her eye. She wears an eye patch as part of her recovery.

"Thank God for answering my prayers to send someone to treat my eyes," said Sabdani.

The become serious because they are neglected for many years.

"The patients defer¹¹ this care because of family or financial reasons. These cases then become more complex over time, whereas if they had been taken care of early on it would have been less of a complicated matter," he explained.  "So one thing that the Mercy has been able to do is to allow these people that you see today to have hope to come and have these surgical¹² cases taken care of."

For some people on Mindanao it may be the first and the last time they see a doctor. One Filipino woman who received medicine for her allergies¹³ summed up her gratitude¹⁴ in this way.

"Americans are friendship and friendly. Friendship and friendly," she noted¹⁵.

The Mercy is spending several weeks in the southern Philippines. It is a massive undertaking¹⁶. At least a dozen civic¹⁷ organizations are also taking part, including doctors from Canada and India.

The Philippines is the first stop of a five-month Asia tour by the Mercy that is also to include Indonesia, East Timor, and Bangladesh.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

3 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

4 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

5 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

6 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

7 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

8 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

11 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

12 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

13 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

14 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

17 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。