2007年VOA标准英语-Africa Gets Tough on Malaria

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
19 April 2007
 

Malaria¹ kills more than one million people each year, with nearly all of those deaths children in Africa.  As the continent marks Africa Malaria Day, on April 25, new treatments have been developed that could help the international community move closer to reducing deaths by 50 percent in three years.

Malaria is spread by mosquitoes

It is often said laughter may be one of the best medicines.  This point is proven in rural Kenya, where crowds of people are drawn² to comic skits³ that also teach people about the dangers of malaria.

The grotesquely⁴ made-up actors tell ridiculous stories of body aches and diarrhea.  But the real message is that these ailments⁵ are very serious and are possible symptoms of malaria, a treatable disease that often kills.

Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public-health problem in Africa.  The disease is caused by malaria parasites⁶ that are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes.

Awa Marie Coll-Seck is the executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership⁷, which was founded in 1998 by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, UNICEF and the U.N. Development Program.  Coll-Seck says it is hard to overestimate⁸ the devastation⁹ malaria causes in Africa.

"If you look at the structure in Africa, 30 to 40 percent of people who are coming to [medical] consultation¹⁰ are coming because of malaria," she said.  "At the same time, that is the first cause of death of children under five."

She adds that of the one million-plus deaths from malaria each year, the international community has set a goal of cutting that number in half within three years.

One of the new tools in the anti-malaria arsenal¹¹ is a medication called ASAQ.  It combines the plant extract artemisinin and the anti-malarial drug ACT into one tablet.  It also has a simpler dosing regimen than other anti-malarial drugs.

The non-governmental organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and the French drug company Sanofi-Aventis developed ASAQ.  Company vice¹² president Robert Sebbag says his firm will receive no monetary¹³ profit. 

"No patent, no intellectual property, for this compound.  We accepted that and we will follow, because the needs are very important ones," he said.

Not everyone is impressed with the new drug.  Its makers¹⁴ say it costs $1 for a complete adult dosage.  But Ronan Jeambou, a doctor at the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal says that is still too high for rural Africans, who make an average of $1 or $2 a day.

He says if a customer were to buy this drug in a pharmacy¹⁵, it could cost as much as $13.50.

Other efforts to combat malaria include research at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland.  Scientists are trying to genetically¹⁶ modify mosquitoes so that they are no longer carriers of malaria.  Roll Back Malaria's Coll-Seck says scientists and health workers also hope to develop a vaccine¹⁷ to prevent malaria.

"We have a lot of teams working on that," she said.  "Until now, what is clear is that we will need 10 years before having a vaccine."

In South Africa, musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka is lending her name to the fight against malaria.  She recently established a foundation that scrutinizes¹⁸ how African governments use malaria funds.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, speaking at a ceremony launching the foundation, compared the daily death toll¹⁹ from malaria to the 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

"If you think about it, that is 3,000 people a day, that is as many people who died in the World Trade Center, but day after day after day," he noted²⁰.  "And 90 percent of them are in Africa, and it is now a preventable disease."

In Africa, officials and health workers have also taken steps to fight malaria.  This includes distributing bed nets treated with mosquito-killing insecticide and teaching families how to use them.  Another strategy is spraying insecticide in homes.     

Health workers believe the strategy is having an effect.  Regina Wanjiru Nyaga, the head nurse at a clinic in Kenya's Kiorugari village, says the number of patients testing positive for malaria in recent years has come down.

"Nowadays, they are reducing.  There are not as many as used to come with malaria," she said.

The international community, together with local health care workers like Nyaga, are working to eliminate a disease that has brought so much devastation to Africa.

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 skits   

n.讽刺文( skit的名词复数 )；小喜剧；若干；一群

参考例句：

• One of these skits, "The King of Beasts" resembles a traditional frontier prank. 一出滑稽短剧《兽王》酷似传统的边疆闹剧。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• Kids can develop ad campaigns, commercials and skits to illustrate character traits. 孩子们会发动宣传运动，制作广告宣传片和幽默短剧来说明性格品质。 来自互联网

4 grotesquely   

adv. 奇异地,荒诞地

参考例句：

• Her arched eyebrows and grotesquely powdered face were at once seductive and grimly overbearing. 眉棱棱着，在一脸的怪粉上显出妖媚而霸道。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Two faces grotesquely disfigured in nylon stocking masks looked through the window. 2张戴尼龙长袜面罩的怪脸望着窗外。

5 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

6 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 overestimate   

v.估计过高，过高评价

参考例句：

• Don't overestimate seriousness of the problem.别把问题看重了。
• We overestimate our influence and our nuisance value.我们过高地估计了自己的影响力和破坏作用。

9 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

13 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

14 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

16 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

17 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

18 scrutinizes   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They fear the ear that hears their orders, and the eye that scrutinizes their actions. 从前，国王都相信他们是天神的儿子，或至少如此自以为是，而且多少还带着点他们父亲天神的风度。 来自互联网

19 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

20 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。