VOA慢速英语2009年-Health Report - Leprosy: An Old Disease Th

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Pope Benedict named five new saints on Sunday, including a Catholic clergyman who cared for people in a leper colony.
　
A picture of Father Damien at the ceremony making him a saint in Vatican City

Father Damien was born Joseph De Veuster in Belgium. In eighteen seventy-three he went to the Hawaiian island of Molokai. After several years of working in the colony, he himself developed leprosy. Father Damien died in eighteen eighty-nine. He was forty-nine years old.

Leprosy -- also called Hansen's disease -- is a bacterial¹ disease that causes skin wounds and nerve damage. The disease can severely² disfigure victims and cause death. Untreated patients can spread the bacteria from their nose and mouth through the air to people who are near them a lot.

But doctors have been able to treat leprosy since the nineteen forties. Today they use a combination of three drugs. Experts say after the first treatment, patients can no longer infect others.

At the start of this year there were two hundred thirteen thousand cases of leprosy reported in one hundred twenty-one countries. The World Health Organization says there were almost two hundred fifty thousand new cases last year. But the drug combination can cure the disease within six to twelve months.

The number of new cases has been falling in many countries. But there are places where leprosy is still spreading quickly. These include areas of Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and India. Other areas are in Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal and Tanzania.

Leprosy is an ancient disease. It victims have been highly stigmatized⁴ -- often blamed for their condition and made to feel unclean. In India, leprosy has traditionally been considered a punishment for something bad done in a former life. Other cultures have considered it a sign of evil.

James Staples⁵ teaches in the School of Social Sciences at Brunel University in Britain. He is author of the book "Peculiar⁶ People, Amazing Lives: Leprosy, Social Exclusion⁷ and Community Making in South India."

He tells us that modern knowledge about leprosy does not necessarily reduce the stigma³. Public health campaigns spread the message that leprosy is curable and not highly infectious. Yet he says this message is often more scary for people than the idea that leprosy is some sort of spiritual punishment. That explanation may not do much for the patient's place in society, he says, "but at least other people don't think they are going to catch it."

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁸. I'm Steve Ember.

1 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

4 stigmatized   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was stigmatized as an ex-convict. 他遭人污辱，说他给判过刑。 来自辞典例句
• Such a view has been stigmatized as mechanical jurisprudence. 蔑称这种观点为机械法学。 来自辞典例句

5 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

6 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

7 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

8 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。