2007年VOA标准英语-Australian Experts Aim to Find Best Ways to Fig

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
18 May 2007

A team of Australian malaria¹ experts has been meeting in Canberra to find the most efficient ways to combat the disease in the South Pacific. Canberra has just announced a new multi-million dollar aid package to help efforts in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Malaria is spread by mosquitoes

The Solomon Islands has the highest incidence of malaria in the South Pacific followed by Vanuatu. And the disease is one of the leading causes of death in Papua New Guinea.

Australia is increasing its anti-malaria aid in the region - trying to reduce the rate of infections.

The money will be used to train medical staff, provide testing kits² and fund education campaigns.

The new Malaria Reference Group is meeting for the first time in Canberra. The job of this panel of experts is to make sure that Australian aid is spent wisely on tackling the disease.

The group's chairman, Sir Richard Feachem, says much work still needs to be done in the South Pacific.

"Both in terms of child death, child sickness which keeps children away from schools, of course, and has an economic consequence, and also sickness in adults, which reduces productivity, and the deterrent³ effect on investment and the tourist trade, which is important obviously for Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands - if we add all these things together we would have to conclude that malaria should be right up at the top of the list of priorities for these countries," said Feachem.

Some scientists here believe that a "reasonably good" malaria vaccine⁴ is just a few years away. They're pinning their hopes on a drug based on a Chinese herb.

It is derived⁵ from a common plant called sweet wormwood, which the Chinese have long used to treat fevers. The drug has been tested in parts of Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Burma.

Every year, between 350 and 500 million people around the world are infected with malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. More than one million die from the disease. In addition to the South Pacific islands, some of the worst hit nations are in Africa and South Asia.

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 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

3 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

4 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。

5 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》