美国国家公共电台 NPR--The partisan divide can undermine Americans' health, researchers say

The partisan¹ divide can undermine Americans' health, researchers say

Transcript²

Health researchers say the political divide is impacting Americans' health. A new study shows there is a growing life expectancy³ gap between Democratic and Republican counties.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

America's political divide has generated lots of concern about how polarization might undermine democracy. Medical researchers say the bitter partisan divide can undermine Americans' health as well. A new study concludes that how a state votes in presidential elections helps predict life expectancy for people living in that state. NPR's Allison Aubrey is here to fill us in. Allison, when I think about life expectancy, I think about diet, exercise, environment even. But politics, you got to fill me in on that one.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE⁴: Right. Yeah. Well, it may sound surprising but, yes, political affiliation⁵ is one factor shaping the life span of people around the country according to this new study. Researchers went back about 20 years. They analyzed⁶ a CDC database that collects death data on, essentially⁷, every individual in the U.S. They linked this data with federal election data, looking specifically at how counties voted in presidential elections and also in state governor's races. Now, overall, mortality rates in the U.S. had been declining in the early 2000s. People were generally living longer. But the researchers found some of those gains have faded away. And when they looked at areas losing ground, they found Republican counties were losing more. Bottom line, people in Republican-leaning counties appear to be more likely to die prematurely⁹. Here is the study author, Haider Warraich. He's a doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

HAIDER WARRAICH: Our findings did surprise us because our study does suggest that there are more premature⁸ deaths in Republican-leaning counties than Democratic-leaning counties.

AUBREY: Now, it's not something as simple as Republican counties being older. The researchers adjusted for age. Nor is it just an urban-rural divide in the country. They found the mortality gap held up in suburban¹⁰ and urban counties that vote Republican, too.

MART?NEZ: Wow. All right. Now, what are some of the factors that could help explain this?

AUBREY: Well, the timing¹¹ of when this gap started gives a clue. Dr. Warraich says when he looked back to 2001, there wasn't much of a difference in mortality between Democratic and Republican-leaning areas.

WARRAICH: Yet, all of that has changed over those last 20 years. And now that gap has widened by almost sixfold between Republican and Democratic areas.

AUBREY: So the effect has been accelerating, he says. Now, this study can't answer why. But the leading theory on what has changed is that as policymaking has shifted more to the states and as political polarization has intensified¹², the policies passed by Republican-leaning states compared to those passed in Democratic states have led to this greater divide in health outcomes.

MART?NEZ: So let me see if I understand this. So the argument here is that Republican policies could be linked to higher death rates, and Democratic policies link to lower ones?

AUBREY: That is basically the argument Dr. Steven Woolf makes. He's a longtime health researcher at Virginia Commonwealth¹³ University. He says if you look at policies such as the expansion of Medicaid, so access to health care, policies on minimum wage, tobacco control, gun legislation, drug addiction¹⁴ - a whole range of policies have an impact on health and mortality rates. Democratic states have supported more of these. But Republican states have gone the other direction.

STEVEN WOOLF: Action in Washington, D.C., is caught in gridlock. But activity in state capitals is robust¹⁵. And whether we're talking about abortion¹⁶ or gun control or many other issues in the news right now, states are really driving change. And the more conservative the policies, the larger the threat to life expectancy. So increasingly, we're living in a time where your life expectancy will depend more and more on the state you live in.

AUBREY: He points to New York and Oklahoma. In the mid-'90s, life expectancy was about the same in these two states. Now New York is near the top of the list when it comes to life expectancy, Oklahoma is near the bottom. He says part of this is likely due to policy differences.

MART?NEZ: All right. But diet and exercise has to make a difference somehow, right?

AUBREY: Yeah, of course.

MART?NEZ: OK.

AUBREY: I mean, look; people's habits and lifestyles certainly play a role. I mean, you can't overlook that. I mean - and income and education are important, too. Also, changes in a state's economy, changes in its demographics, that matter. Those things all matter as well. But he says, to him, the most convincing evidence that state politics is one factor that does influence longevity¹⁷ is what happened during the pandemic.

WOOLF: States with Republican leaders were pushing back on COVID-19 vaccination¹⁸ and enforcement of public health policies. And what we basically had was a controlled experiment where, you know, some states adopted this proactive approach, other states didn't. And we had an outcome that could be measured within weeks. And we saw massive differences in death rates.

AUBREY: He points out Republican-led states have tended to have lower vaccination rates. And our colleague Geoff Brumfiel and others at NPR have reported on how pro-Trump counties have continued to suffer far higher COVID death tolls¹⁹.

MART?NEZ: So is there any sense at all that people in red states who would like to see more protective health policies would maybe lean on elected officials to change this?

AUBREY: You know, one thing that has fascinated me covering the pandemic is that if you ignore the loud voices that were all fired up, protesting against vaccines²⁰ or mask mandates²¹ and you look at public opinion polls, most people, most Americans, said, hey, if there's evidence that a mask will protect me, I'll wear one in certain situations. If vaccines work, if they protect me, I'll get one. And most Americans did get vaccinated²². You know, Americans are more moderate in their views compared to the politicians who represent them. The more divided we've become as a nation, the harder it is to see or hear the kind of quiet people in the middle of this big divide. So you ask if people would support policy changes. Well, first, they would have to connect the dots between all the policies that can impact health span or life span. I don't think most people have thought of it this way. Then if they did start thinking of it this way, it may be possible that more people would want to vote in candidates to enact²³ policies that are more protective or supportive of good health and longevity.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Allison Aubrey. Thanks a lot.

AUBREY: Thank you, A.

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1 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

6 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

9 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

10 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

11 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

12 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

14 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

15 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

16 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。

17 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

18 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。

19 tolls   

（缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏

参考例句：

• A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
• The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。

20 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。

21 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

22 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？

23 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。