VOA慢速英语20060619a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Africa Is Warned as Fake Malaria¹ Drugs Spread in AsiaBy Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Sun, 18 Jun 2006 16:00:00 UTC

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




This week, we report on a new warning about the worldwide problem of counterfeit³ medicines. Scientists warn of a growing industry that is producing illegal copies of the anti-malaria drug artesunate. They say these counterfeits⁴ are spreading quickly through mainland Southeast Asia.

Counterfeit drugs are sold under the names of real medicines. They often contain no active substance, or not enough to work.

Paul Newton of the University of Oxford⁵ in England led an investigation⁶. The researchers tested artesunate tablets that were used to treat a man at a hospital in eastern Burma last year. Artesunate is normally effective, but the twenty-three-year-old man died from common malaria.

The fake tablets were sold as a real product made by Guilin Pharmaceutical⁷ of China. The scientists discovered that the tablets contained only ten milligrams of artesunate. The real product contains fifty milligrams.

The hospital had bought a large supply of the drug. It was all fake.

The researchers say there are now at least twelve different kinds of counterfeit artesunate. They say that in Southeast Asia, between forty and fifty percent of drugs identified as artesunate may contain no active substance.

The report expresses concern that Africa could be next. The researchers say the high cost of real artesunate and the shortage of it in Africa create conditions for the spread of fake drugs. Fake artesunate was found in Cameroon in two thousand five. They say the problem may already be widespread.

The World Health Organization estimates that each year almost one million people die from malaria. Most are young children in Africa south of the Sahara.

One of the scientists who did the study is working to develop tests that could identify counterfeit anti-malaria drugs within seconds. Facundo Fernandez is a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Current methods take two hours.

Paul Newton and his team say the counterfeit drug trade is not just criminal, some might call it murder.

Their report appears in the June publication of PLoS Medicine. PLoS is the Public Library of Science. This non-profit organization publishes scientific journals that anyone can read free of charge on the Internet. The Web site is p-l-o-s dot o-r-g -- again, p-l-o-s dot org (plos.org).

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 counterfeits   

v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Objects and people looked like counterfeits of themselves. 各种人和事好象都给自己披上了伪装。 来自辞典例句
• We have seen many counterfeits, but we are born believers in great men. 我们见过许多骗子，但是我们天生信赖伟人。 来自辞典例句

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。