VOA慢速英语 2008 1001a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Governments, businesses and other groups have promised to add three billion dollars to the fight against malaria¹. The promises came last week at a meeting at the United Nations in New York.

The money will support a new Global Malaria Action Plan. The plan aims to stop the disease in Africa by two thousand fifteen. Malaria is not limited to Africa, but ninety percent of deaths happen south of the Sahara. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the plan will not only support bed nets, but research, cutting drug costs and expanding health care systems.
　

Medical workers in Dakar, Senegal, treat a patient with malaria

Governments and international groups spent a billion dollars on malaria programs last year. But the Roll Back Malaria Partnership² says the world should spend more than five times that amount. It says doing so could save four million lives by two thousand fifteen. The partnership includes United Nations agencies, the World Bank and leading drug makers³.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization released its World Malaria Report for two thousand eight. The report presented sharply lower estimates of malaria cases than in the past. W.H.O. officials say the corrections were mostly the result of better methods of collecting information.

Until now, the agency has said there were as many as five hundred million infections every year, with a million deaths. The new report estimates the number of malaria cases in two thousand six at about two hundred fifty million. And it estimates the number of deaths at eight hundred eighty-one thousand. The great majority who die are young children.

The W.H.O. says the old numbers came from using malaria maps from the nineteen sixties. But changes have taken place, including the movement of people to cities, especially in Asia. The disease is less common in urban areas.

The report says malaria deaths have decreased in several countries, and a few African nations have reduced deaths by half. Yet the malaria drugs needed for what is known as artemisinin-based combination therapy reached only three percent of African children in need.

In the last two years, though, there have been greatly increased efforts to provide families with bed nets. These nets are treated with insecticides to kill the mosquitoes that spread malaria. Campaigns for indoor spraying of insecticides in homes have also increased in Africa and elsewhere.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁴. For more health news, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Jim Tedder⁵.

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 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

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 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

5 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网