VOA标准英语2009年-Red Cross Reports Increase in Diarrheal Disease

The International Federation¹ of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns diarrheal diseases, such as cholera², are on the rise and increasingly becoming a major cause of death throughout the world - especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The Red Cross says it is working closely with governments to step up an effective response to this emergency.
　
Barefooted child stands next to polluted water in Delmas, east of Johannesburg, during a cholera outbreak (file photo)

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says nearly one billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. Most of these people are in sub-Saharan Africa.

As a consequence, the Swiss humanitarian³ organization says diseases, which are preventable keep coming back and that many people are dying or becoming ill.

Red Cross statistics show that in 2007 and 2008, around 60 percent of all requests for assistance from its emergency fund were directly or indirectly⁴ related to outbreaks of acute diarrheal diseases. It notes that this is about 35 percent more compared to similar statistics in 2006.

Red Cross Senior Water and Sanitation⁵ Officer Robert Fraser cites several key reasons for the rise in waterborne diseases.

"One is definitely the increasing and rapid urbanization and particularly in countries where the services - water and sanitation and hygiene⁶ promotion⁷ are poor, combined with the fact that we see erosion of health and care, support services from government and added to the increasing impact of climate change, particularly increasing severity of floods, food security issues and droughts," he said.

Fraser says these problems are exacerbated⁸ in countries that have political instability and conflict. He says acute problems of diarrhea and cholera increasingly are popping up in areas and countries, which previously⁹ were able to control them. A case in point, he notes, is Zimbabwe, where thousands of people have died from a cholera epidemic¹⁰.

"We have to be better prepared to deal with the acute problems, such as the outbreak in Zimbabwe just now," Fraser said. "We have seven emergency teams, over 50 international staff and we have mobilized over one thousand local volunteers. So we are very much involved in the Zimbabwe response. The real answer to diarrheal disease is the medium to long-term and that is really the U.N. Millennium¹¹ Development Goals in reducing by half at least the number of people without access to safe water and sanitation linked to low-cost and simple methodologies for hygiene promotion."

The Red Cross says it is working closely with governments and humanitarian partners to step up an effective response and to increase the training of Red Cross volunteers worldwide.

It says a principle aim of this program is to raise public awareness¹² about what needs to be done to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases and, failing that, to effectively respond to outbreaks of disease.

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

3 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。

4 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

5 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

6 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

7 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

8 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

11 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。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。