VOA标准英语2011--Neglected Diseases Afflict South Asia's Poor

Neglected Diseases Afflict¹ South Asia's Poor

At a time when economists² predict that South Asia's economy will grow, health experts point to hundreds of millions suffering from neglected infections, often as a result of poverty. In a series of new studies, researchers say many countries in South Asia bear a disproportionate burden of these diseases and have a need for new drugs and vaccines³.
Health experts say many tropical diseases that are mostly associated with sub-Saharan Africa have long been a neglected burden in South Asia as well. New research shows about 1.5 billion people in South Asia suffer from severe debilitating⁴ parasitic⁵ and bacterial⁶ infections.
Peter Hotez is dean of the U.S. National School of Tropical Medicine. He says poverty is the primary factor that makes people susceptible⁷ to these diseases. And because they are usually not fatal, he adds, there is no sense of urgency to combat them, and they have been easy for the world to ignore.
"Nobody is really dying from elephantiasis or lymphatic filariais and this is why it has been so hard to get these diseases the attention of global health policy makers⁸," said Hotez. "It's tens of millions of people being disfigured, being disabled, being too sick to go to work every day. They do everything but kill and that's a difficult message sometimes to convey."
Hotez is the author of one of the recent studies. He says one quarter of the world's intestinal⁹ parasitic infections occur in India and the rest of South Asia. Filariasis, Kala-azar, and leprosy are also widespread. He says these are the most common diseases that strike the poorest of the poor.
"You might have heard the term the bottom billion, the one billion people in the world who live on no money," added Hotez. "Well, it turns out that a large proportion of them live in India and South Asia and these are the diseases that are trapping that bottom billion in poverty."
Although some of these diseases can be treated with relatively¹⁰ simple immunization campaigns, treatments for others are expensive and complicated. These infections also have a tendency to recur¹¹.
Amanda Glassman is the Director for Global Health at the Center for Global Development, a public policy research institute. She says the new studies should prompt governments to give diseases of the poor a higher priority.
"I hope that it galvanizes policy makers to pay more attention to those diseases when they are thinking about what should be funded with public monies and how those very inexpensive but effective treatments that exist can reach people in need," said Glassman.
Experts urge Indian pharmaceutical¹² companies to take the lead and focus not just on developing drugs for diabetes¹³, heart disease and cancer, but on innovative¹⁴ therapies for neglected tropical diseases, as well.

1 afflict   

vt.使身体或精神受痛苦，折磨

参考例句：

• I wish you wouldn't afflict me with your constant complains.我希望你不要总是抱怨而使我苦恼。
• There are many illnesses,which afflict old people.有许多疾病困扰着老年人。

2 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

5 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。

6 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。

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 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》

9 intestinal   

adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌

参考例句：

• A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
• This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 recur   

vi.复发，重现，再发生

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically.经济危机周期性地发生。
• Of course,many problems recur at various periods.当然，有许多问题会在不同的时期反复提出。

12 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。

13 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

14 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。