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2006年VOA标准英语-More Bed Nets Needed in Burundi's Fight Ag

时间:2007-03-22 16:00:00

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(单词翻译)

By Cathy Majtenyi
Bujumbura
24 April 2006
 
Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies of malaria1. Health care workers report a drop in malaria rates with bed net use, but in the tiny central African nation of Burundi a controversy2 has arisen because the government cannot afford to distribute free nets to everyone.

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The Ndava health center, located about an hour's drive north of Bujumbura, is packed with people from the nearby village. 

 


Villagers at Ndava health center north Bujumbura watch health care workers unravel3 and set up a mosquito net   
  

As they watch health care workers set up a mosquito net on the health center's veranda4, some of the people yell out questions or comments about the net and the disease it is trying to prevent: malaria.

All across the tiny Great Lakes nation of Burundi, bed nets are being touted5 as an effective weapon in the fight against malaria, the leading cause of death among children five years and under in Burundi and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

Up to two million of Burundi's seven million people fall sick each year from malaria. Symptoms of the disease include fever, muscle aches and headaches. Health officials estimate that up to 80 percent of Burundi's population live in areas where they are at risk of getting the disease. However, the government lacks the resources to supply nets to all those in danger. In fact, it has to struggle to provide them to pregnant women and young children, the two groups most vulnerable to malaria.

Since the end of 2003, the government has given away more than 260,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to pregnant women and young children. 
 
 
Igiraneza Renilde stands next to mosquito net she recieved for free at Ndava health center last year 
  
At the Ndava health center, which serves more than 17,000 people, health care workers have been distributing an average of 200 free bed nets each week since August 2005.

Nurse Jacky Nyavyinshi is enthusiastic about the difference the nets have made.

She says ever since the clinic introduced the free nets, and people began sleeping under them, fewer people are coming to the center with malaria. Before the nets were introduced, she explains, more than 60 people came every day with malaria; now it is down to 40 a day.

Malaria is caused by a parasite6 prevalent among female mosquitoes in sub-Saharan Africa. When an infected mosquito bites, a small amount of blood is taken in that contains the microscopic7 malaria parasites8. The parasites grow and mature for a week or more, then travel to the mosquitos salivary10 glands11. When the mosquito next takes a blood meal, these parasites mix with the saliva9 and are injected into the bite.

Those Burundians not eligible12 to receive free bed nets are able to buy them for two dollars a piece from an American organization called PSI, which sells health care products at heavily subsidized rates and trains people on health issues. So far the group has sold about 120,000 nets since the end of 2003.

Isabelle Walhin is PSI's country representative for Burundi. She explains why she believes it is important to sell, rather than give away, the bed nets.

"We think that people value the product and would be more likely to use it. We've seen in several occasions that people who receive nets or anything for free, some of them are likely to re-sell them on the market because they have other priorities like feeding, etc., but if we sell them, then they feel like it's their own good, and so they will be more likely to use them," she said.

But PSI and the government have come under criticism for selling bed nets, or restricting the availability of free nets, in a country where almost 90 percent of people live on less than two dollars a day.

Ernest Ndizeye lives a stone's-throw away from Ndava health center. He shares his small mud house with five other people and says he would love to sleep under a mosquito net but cannot afford to buy one and is not eligible to receive a free net from the government.

He says he and his family members cannot sleep at night because the mosquitoes disturb them so much. The family is poor and the parents are gone; there is no money for food. He says he would like someone to help them get nets.

For its part, the government says that it is doing the best it can with its bed net program, given its limited resources.

"Here in Burundi we are targeting the most vulnerable groups that are children below five years and pregnant women. So the National Malaria Control Program has to ensure that all these categories are getting nets, either free or to buy. For PSI, nets are not free, however these nets are highly subsidized. However, I cannot guarantee if all these nets are affordable13 for rural people," explains Dr. Baza Dismas, a top malaria official in the ministry14 of public health.

The Burundi government purchases bed nets with money from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis15, and Malaria, an initiative created by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that dispenses16 funds to countries worldwide to fight the three diseases.

Burundi has received more that $17 million from the Global Fund since 2003 to buy drugs and mosquito bed nets, train health care workers, purchase equipment, and take other measures to combat malaria in the country.

The Global Fund is meeting this week to determine the next round of funding for programs in Burundi and elsewhere.


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1 malaria B2xyb     
n.疟疾
参考例句:
  • He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
  • Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
2 controversy 6Z9y0     
n.争论,辩论,争吵
参考例句:
  • That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
  • We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
3 unravel Ajzwo     
v.弄清楚(秘密);拆开,解开,松开
参考例句:
  • He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧,其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线,他都能解开。
  • This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。
4 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
5 touted 00151f908b31d984fd20d8b48dba34f3     
v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 );招揽;侦查;探听赛马情报
参考例句:
  • She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
  • People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说,他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句
6 parasite U4lzN     
n.寄生虫;寄生菌;食客
参考例句:
  • The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
  • I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫,我要自己养活自己。
7 microscopic nDrxq     
adj.微小的,细微的,极小的,显微的
参考例句:
  • It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
  • A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。
8 parasites a8076647ef34cfbbf9d3cb418df78a08     
寄生物( parasite的名词复数 ); 靠他人为生的人; 诸虫
参考例句:
  • These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的,而与寄生虫无关。
  • Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。
9 saliva 6Cdz0     
n.唾液,口水
参考例句:
  • He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
  • Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。
10 salivary xCSzA     
adj. 唾液的
参考例句:
  • Small doses depress salivary and bronchial secretion and sweating. 小剂量可抑制唾液分泌、支气管分泌及出汗。
  • The five pairs of salivary glands open into the mouth. 有五对唾液腺通向口腔。
11 glands 82573e247a54d4ca7619fbc1a5141d80     
n.腺( gland的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
  • the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺
12 eligible Cq6xL     
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的
参考例句:
  • He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
  • Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。
13 affordable kz6zfq     
adj.支付得起的,不太昂贵的
参考例句:
  • The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
  • There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
14 ministry kD5x2     
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。
15 tuberculosis bprym     
n.结核病,肺结核
参考例句:
  • People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
  • Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。
16 dispenses db30e70356402e4e0fbfa2c0aa480ca0     
v.分配,分与;分配( dispense的第三人称单数 );施与;配(药)
参考例句:
  • The machine dispenses a range of drinks and snacks. 这台机器发售各种饮料和小吃。
  • This machine dispenses coffee. 这台机器发售咖啡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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