VOA标准英语2008年-US Group Targets Neglected Tropical Diseases

Earlier this year, President Bush said the United States would spend $350 million over five years to fight seven of the world's most common parasitic¹ and bacterial² diseases affecting hundreds of millions of people in tropical regions of the world. A Washington-based global health network is urging Congress to fully³ fund the initiative, and encouraging other developed nations to join the effort. VOA's Michael Bowman reports.

Battles against HIV/AIDS, malaria⁴ and tuberculosis⁵ regularly grab international headlines and are the focus of multi-billion dollar global health initiatives. But many other diseases are equally widespread and cause massive suffering in scores of countries, yet rarely seem to capture the world's attention. Called "neglected tropical diseases", they include river blindness, elephantiasis, snail⁶ fever, and hookworm, roundworm and whipworm.
　
Tommy Thompson (file photo)

A U.S.-based group is fighting to change what it perceives as an imbalance in the world's focus on health matters. The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases has a new high-profile advocate: former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who will be serving as the organization's global ambassador.

"Neglected tropical diseases -- they are really from biblical times," he said. "But they affect one billion people in the world. One out of six people that are currently alive, and it is the billion that are the poorest. The billion that really have no chance to improve unless we, as a society, get involved."

Thompson was speaking at a news conference in Washington.

Neglected Tropical Diseases, or NTPs, generally do not cause death, but often lead to disfigurement, extreme pain, and incapacity. Health officials say, in India alone, billions of dollars in economic activity are lost every year to NTPs. The diseases can also make people more susceptible⁷ to other, more deadly afflictions, such as HIV.

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is targeting 14 NTPs worldwide, all of which are readily treatable at a minimal⁸ cost.

"Fifty cents [half a US dollar] per person per year is all we need in order to defeat these neglected tropical diseases. That is not heavy lifting [not a financial burden]," said Thompson.

Thompson says major pharmaceutical⁹ companies have already agreed to provide drugs targeting NTPs free of charge. As a result, the primary costs of waging a global NTP initiative would be in transporting and administering the medicines.

　

 

1 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

2 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 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。

5 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

6 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

7 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

8 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

9 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。