VOA慢速英语20060607a

HEALTH REPORT - Taking Care With MedicinesBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Wednesday, June 07, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Recently VOA's reporters have explored some of the issues facing health care systems around the world. Today we talk about three separate issues with one thing in common: they all involve medicines.


Real and counterfeit² bottles of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. Could you tell the difference? (The real ones are on top.)

One problem is counterfeit medicines. These can be difficult even for highly trained medical professionals to identify. Counterfeit drugs are made to look and feel like the real medicines whose names they are sold under. But they do little or no good, and in some cases might be harmful. Patients also miss the chance to take the real medicines.

The World Health Organization says an estimated ten percent of the drugs sold worldwide are counterfeit. In developing countries, however, twenty-five percent or more of the medicines taken are believed to be counterfeit.

It is difficult to identify who makes these drugs or where. But many experts believe criminals in India and China are involved. The W.H.O. has created a group to better enforce the safety and quality of medicines in developing countries.

One way that drug makers³ show government agencies that new medicines are safe and effective is through human trials. Yet these can sometimes present great risks to the people involved.

Recently, six men in London came close to dying during tests of an experimental drug. They developed severe reactions within minutes of being injected with a drug for leukemia and other diseases.

The American drug research company Parexel International says the reaction was unusual and rare. The British government has formed a committee to consider stronger rules for human drug trials.

Public interest groups argue that many drug companies take too many risks in testing new medicines. Yet the safety and effectiveness of any drug can also depend on how it is used.

Disease-causing organisms can become resistant⁴ to drugs, especially if the medicines are not taken correctly. The W.H.O. has warned of such a threat to what is now the most effective drug for malaria⁵.

The agency is trying to pressure drug companies only to sell artemisinin in combination with other malaria drugs. Experts say taking it alone will only speed up the development of resistance. Some companies have agreed to stop selling it alone, but others have not.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Jill Moss. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com And to learn about other health care issues, listen Tuesday at this time for SCIENCE IN THE NEWS. I'm Steve Ember.

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 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

5 malaria   

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。