DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Campaign Against Polio

DEVELOPMENT REPORT
—
June 10, 2002: Campaign Against Polio

By Jill Moss¹

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

In nineteen-eighty-eight, world health leaders started a campaign to end the disease polio around the world. The
World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s organization, the United States Centers for Disease
Control and the group Rotary² International organized the campaign. It is called the Global Polio Eradication³
Initiative⁴.

In nineteen-eighty-eight, officials estimated three-hundred-fifty-thousand children around the world had polio.
Recently, the W-H-O reported only five-hundred-thirty-seven new cases of polio in ten countries last year. This
is the lowest rate of polio in history. It is also a sign that the campaign to end the disease has been almost a
complete success.

Polio is an infectious⁵ disease caused by a virus. It can affect people at any age. But polio usually affects children
under age three. The virus enters through the mouth and then grows inside the throat and intestines⁶. Signs of
polio include a high body temperature, stomach sickness, and pain in the head and neck.

Once the poliovirus becomes established in the intestines, it can spread to the blood and nervous system. As a
result, victims of polio often become unable to move their bodies. This paralysis⁷ is almost always permanent. In
very serious cases, the paralysis can lead to death because victims are not able to breathe.

There is no cure for polio, so the best treatment is prevention. A few drops of a powerful vaccine⁸ medicine will
protect a child for life. The vaccine must be given over several years to be fully⁹ effective. Last year, international
health groups gave the vaccine to more than five-hundred-seventy-five -million children in ninety-four countries.
That vaccine effort is continuing.

The W-H-O wants to stop the spread of polio by the end of this year. The countries with the highest rates of polio
are India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Niger. Countries with lower rates of polio are Angola, Sudan,
Somalia, Ethiopia, and Egypt. However, efforts to finally end the disease are being threatened by conflicts in
several parts of the world. In Angola, for example, civil war has prevented vaccine medicine from reaching
children.

If the campaign succeeds, polio would become the second disease in history to be ended by a medical campaign.
The first disease that was ended around world was smallpox¹⁰.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.

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1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。

3 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

4 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

5 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

6 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

7 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

8 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。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？