VOA标准英语2012--Family-Planning Campaign to Aid Millions in World's Poorest Countries

 

Family-Planning Campaign to Aid Millions in World's Poorest Countries

The Margaret Pyke Center is a sexual health clinic in central London that offers provides everything residents need for family planning.

Patients can pick up a variety of contraception devices, take pregnancy¹ tests, receive abortion² referrals and get advice from health workers.

It’s offered free by Britain's National Health Service.

Sharna Reeves says that makes her life a whole lot easier. "As a busy working girl in London, it's great to have a clinic within the NHS that I can just walk into. I don't have to make an appointment. I can get all the advice that I need on the spot and get the treatment that I need," she explained. "It's like a one-stop shop. It's great."

Nurse Alison White says providing sexual guidance is not always easy in a cosmopolitan³ city like London. "What we have to make sure is that we are meeting the local population's needs. So it's thinking about things, as in, there are some cultures that do not openly talk about sex that wouldn't actually attend the services. So it may mean that we have to actually go out to them," she said. "Rather than them coming to us. Or we have to think of innovative⁴ ways of actually penetrating⁵ that population."

If providing the right contraception advice is difficult in London, it can be even more difficult in some of the world's poorest countries.

But with high maternal⁶ and infant mortality rates, these are also the countries in the most need, according to the new campaign launched in Britain, which hopes to provide family planning services for 120 million women within eight years.

Gary Darmstadt from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says that aim should be a cornerstone of the global agenda. "Between now and 2020 we can save 200,000 lives of women. We can prevent three million deaths of infants. We can prevent 50 million abortions⁷ and about 100 million unintended pregnancies⁸ - incredibly important for health," he noted⁹.

The Gates Foundation says around 60 million unwanted pregnancies take place in developing countries every year. Family planning would give women more control over their own lives.

But Rajat Khosla of Amnesty International warns that providing contraception devices is only half the battle. "Flooding the market with commodities would not get us where we want to be in terms of meeting the unmet need for family planning. What we need to bring together is a focus on women's empowerment," said Khosla. "For them to be able to make the choice about their sexual and reproductive health."

Making contraception services available is important for female and infant health, he says. But making sure all women have access to them will be a more difficult road to navigate¹⁰.

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

3 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

4 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。

5 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

6 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

7 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

8 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

9 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。

10 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。