VOA标准英语--One Year On, India Fights to Remain Polio-Free

 

One Year On, India Fights to Remain Polio-Free

To get a sense of how India was able to fight the highly contagious¹ and crippling polio virus, one does not have to look any further than this home - in a Muslim-majority area of Ghaziabad, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Asma Khatun is a mother of two.

"Whenever anyone comes, we get the children vaccinated². Even if nobody came to our house, we would send our children [to a clinic] to get vaccinated," she said.

As a government and UNICEF team go house to house to inoculate³ children against polio -- they are not met with any opposition⁴.

Nasreen Jahan, who says she has the paralyzing disease, looks on as her baby receives polio drops.

“I have a hard time walking, and I don’t want my kids to have the same disease," she said.

UNICEF says that, just 25 years ago, polio crippled an estimated 200,000 children in India each year. And many experts predicted that India would be the last country to eradicate⁵ polio. 

Millions of dollars and vaccine⁶ doses later - India went from reporting 741 cases in 2009 to just one in 2011.

UNICEF says teams of health workers like this one, targeting high-risk areas, have been key in the fight.

Women like Zareena Parveen spend hours among families in their own neighborhoods, convincing parents of the importance of vaccinating⁷ their children while also dispelling⁸ misinformation about the vaccine.

“They used to think that our children will become sterile⁹ and will not be able to have children when they grow up," she said. "They used to think like this before… but now they don’t, now they allow their kids to get the drops.”

Local Muslim institutions and community leaders have also been instrumental in spreading the word at festivals, mosques¹⁰ and schools. 

Maulana Noor Hasan Qasmi says there's a difference between his community in India and those in the remaining polio-endemic countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria - where gunmen have killed vaccinators.

“The polio vaccination¹¹ campaign has been successful here because our Muslim scholars are with us. With their support, we are able to make people understand that giving children the vaccine is beneficial and crucial," he said.

The Indian Health Ministry¹² last month launched a nationwide immunization campaign - with a goal of vaccinating 170 million children under the age of five. The effort will focus on the most vulnerable populations - including newborns, migrants and those living in high-risk areas.

If no new cases of polio are reported in India by 2014, the country will officially be declared polio-free. But UNICEF warns there is no room for complacency and that India must remain vigilant¹³ in protecting children until polio is eradicated¹⁴ world-wide. 

1 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

2 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

3 inoculate   

v.给...接种，给...注射疫苗

参考例句：

• A corps of doctors arrived to inoculate the recruits.一队医生来给新兵打防疫针。
• I was just meant to come out here and inoculate some wee babies.我是过来这边给小孩子们接种疫苗的。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

6 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。

7 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

8 dispelling   

v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He succeeded in dispelling our suspicious and won our confidence. 他终于消除了我们的怀疑，得到了我们的信任。 来自辞典例句
• Truth is a torch, which can pierce the mist without dispelling it. 真理是一个火炬，不用驱散大雾，其火炬即能透过。 来自互联网

9 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

10 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

11 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

14 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。