VOA慢速英语2010年-DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Calling Attention

This is the VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT.

Sunday, October tenth, is World Mental Health Day. This year's observance centers on the relationship between mental health and chronic¹ physical conditions like diabetes² and cancer.

The World Health Organization says more than four hundred fifty million people suffer from poor mental health. The most common disorders³ are depression and schizophrenia. Mental health experts also include other disorders like drug and alcohol abuse that affect millions of people.

Elena Berger is with the World Federation⁴ for Mental Health. That organization, based in the United States, held the first World Mental Health Day in nineteen ninety-two.

Mrs. Berger says mental health problems are most severe in poor countries that lack the resources to deal with them.

ELENA BERGER: "It's an enormous issue. The World Health Organization is highlighting mental health as a neglected issue. In developing countries, a huge number of people, up to eighty-five percent, don't have access to any form of mental health treatment. There are huge staffing needs. There are no services. And there's a lot of stigma⁵ in a lot of societies about being mentally ill."

Patient at a mental health institution in Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia last December

Experts say about half of all mental health problems first appear before the age of fifteen.The countries with the highest percentages of young people are in the developing world. That means they are also the countries with the poorest levels of mental health resources.

The WHO says many low- and middle-income countries have only one child psychiatrist⁶ for every one to four million people.

Worldwide, depression is the leading mental health problem, and a leading cause of disability. In two thousand two, the World Health Organization estimated that more than one hundred fifty-four million people suffered from depression.

But Elena Berger from the mental health federation says other kinds of diseases often get more attention.

ELENA BERGER: "People are more focused on communicable diseases and not paying enough attention to the amount of disability there is from mental health conditions. And these are real disabilities where people are not able to work to their full capacity, can't earn an income. And there's a big impact on families as well."

Mrs. Berger says her organization and the WHO are pushing to have governments include mental health care in their development goals. She says this could greatly improve the availability of treatment and services worldwide.

ELENA BERGER: "People with mental and psychosocial disabilities would be recognized as vulnerable groups that need special support, and who need to be included in society, and not excluded and ignored as is often the case at the present time."

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Mario Ritter
 

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

3 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 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。

6 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。