VOA慢速英语2009-Health Report - Connecting Africa's Health W

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

The United Nations is seeking to improve electronic communication for health workers in Africa. Workers in rural areas would have a better way to get training, information and advice from doctors hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away.

In two thousand five, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution urging countries to plan for "eHealth" services. The idea is to look for ways to use modern information and communications technologies to strengthen health systems.
　
A W.H.O. official gives polio vaccine¹ to a child in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2006

The World Health Organization says Africa is behind other parts of the world in treating H.I.V/AIDS, tuberculosis² and malaria³. So the United Nations Economic and Social Council is supporting the expansion of telecommunications technology for health care workers. Telemedicine is another term for eHealth.

Stennar Pedersen is the director of the Norwegian Center for Telemedicine at the University Hospital of North Norway. Doctor Pedersen is working with the W.H.O. He recently met with West African health officials in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. He says the technology can provide easier access to medical specialists and make it easier for people to seek medical information themselves.

Elias Sory is the director general of health services in Ghana. He says eHealth will offer a way to reduce the effects of health worker shortages and make it easier to train existing workers. Doctor Sory says the technology will also make it easier for doctors at Ghana's main teaching hospital, Korle Bu, to share their knowledge.

ELIAS SORY: "If you get a doctor who is away in the village and has come across a case he or she thinks is beyond him or her, why cannot that doctor be able to link up easily with a senior doctor in Korle Bu to get advice on it? So we are not there. But eHealth will get us there.

"The other thing is that medicine is dynamic. Why cannot we use that to train? We do not need all people to come to Korle Bu in order to be upgraded in knowledge; eHealth can bridge that gap. And to me medical education is even one of the most important ingredients in eHealth."

Services must be shaped to fit each country's health care needs and level of technological⁴ development. Another issue is patient privacy. The hope is that health ministries⁵ will together develop policies on collecting and storing electronic health information about individuals.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. Transcripts⁶, MP3s and archives of our reports can be found at voaspecialenglish.com, where you can also post comments. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

3 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。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句