VOA慢速英语 2007 0430a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

This year is the thirtieth anniversary of the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, or PATH. PATH is a nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington.

orphan1 lies in his cot at the Nyumbani children home, a hospice for AIDS orphans2 in Nairobi, Kenya " hspace="2" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" src="/upimg/allimg/070829/0948230.jpg" />

A Young HIV positive orphan lies in his cot at the Nyumbani children home, a hospice for AIDS orphans in Nairobi, Kenya

It was created to deal with technology needs for world health, especially reproductive health. Since then, it has expanded into other areas including vaccine³ research and prevention of AIDS and malaria⁴.

It has programs in sixty-five countries. PATH works with local partners to design and test new technologies. It also works with companies to manufacture and sell them.

One of its products is called the BIRTHweigh scale. This is used to identify babies who have a dangerously low birthweight, less than two and one-half kilograms.

The scale was designed for health workers with low reading skills. At first it used colors to show different weight levels. But tests in Indonesia found that it also had to be readable in low-light situations, like at night in a house without electric power. The handheld scale was redesigned so a person could feel a button sink into the handle if a baby is a healthy weight.

Now the scale is being designed to provide a guide to the right amount of nevirapine to give a baby. Nevirapine is a drug that can prevent the spread of H.I.V. from an infected mother to her child. H.I.V. is the virus that causes AIDS.

Teresa Guillien at PATH says the group will spend about one hundred sixty million dollars on its programs this year. PATH gets money from the United States government and other countries and international agencies. Donations also come from companies, individuals and foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Last Wednesday, on Africa Malaria Day, PATH marked the first year of an expanded campaign to prevent malaria in Zambia. The aim is to provide protective bed nets to about eighty percent of the population.

PATH has also developed a nutritionally enriched⁵ grain called Ultra Rice. Ultra Rice is being used in Colombia, Brazil and India.

Among other projects, PATH is trying to make sure the new cervical cancer vaccine is available in developing countries. And, in the future, Teresa Guillien says PATH hopes to work more on strengthening health systems in those countries.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss⁶. To learn about other groups working in the developing world, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Shep O'Neal.

1 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

2 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

3 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。

4 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。

5 enriched   

使富有( enrich的过去式和过去分词 )； 使富裕； 充实； 使丰富

参考例句：

• The study of science has enriched all our lives. 科学研究丰富了我们的整个生活。
• breakfast cereals enriched with vitamins 增加了维生素的早餐谷物食品

6 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。