VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-01-25 Zambia Working to Prevent Cervical Cancer 赞比亚致力于预防子宫癌

 

AS IT IS 2014-01-25 Zambia Working to Prevent Cervical Cancer 赞比亚致力于预防子宫癌

Hello again, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English!  I’m George Grow. 

The World Health Organization says vaccinations² have been shown to be more effective in reducing deaths than any modern development, other than clean water.  On the show today, we look at efforts in Africa to protect people against the sometimes deadly disease meningitis.

But first, Milagros Ardin tells us about a government vaccination¹ program in Zambia.  Its goal is to protect school girls against human papillomavirus, better known as HPV.  The virus is known to cause cervical cancer, and can spread through sexual contact.

Zambian Government Working to Prevent Cervical Cancer 

Zambia has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world.  Ninety of every 100,000 Zambian women get the preventable disease.  The Zambian government recently launched a program to vaccinate³ school girls against HPV.

The government hopes to vaccinate school girls between the ages of 9 and 11 against HPV.  The program was launched in May at several schools.  One of them is the Kalingalinga Primary School in Lusaka.  About 100 students there received the HPV vaccine⁴. 

Euphrasia Mweshi Mutale is a teacher.  She was involved in efforts to inform the community about what was expected to be a sensitive subject.  She says people involved in the program met with parents and teachers to tell them why it is good to vaccinate the girls.  She notes there have been no immediate⁵ reported side effects from the vaccine, like high body temperature or skin discoloration. 

Mulindi Mwanahamuntu is a director of the Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Zambia.  He says health officials wanted to vaccinate 25,000 girls as part of the program.  But he says there was some resistance from churches and other groups. 

“The very fact that it is given to pre-sexual years it would indicate to others that we are permitting children therefore to go out and have sex.”

Zambian and international health officials are working to break the resistance by educating communities in different ways.  Doctor Pelum-Hazeley is with the United Nations.  She stars in a local radio program called Celebrating Life.  Her program aims to educate listeners on medical issues so they can make the right decisions for their children. 

“We just have to continue educating the people because if someone has had a complication, and of course there are reasons why there are complications, it does not necessarily mean the same thing is going to happen here.”

The World Health Organization rates Zambia third on its list of highest death rates from cervical cancer.  The country also has the highest cervical cancer rate in Africa.

I’m Milagros Ardin.

You are listening to As It Is, from VOA Learning English.  I’m George Grow in Washington.   

The Lancet medical journal recently published a study with good news in the fight against meningitis.  The study found that a new vaccine being used in Chad reduced the number of meningitis cases by 94 percent.  Christopher Cruise has the story.

New Meningitis Vaccine a Success in Chad

 

Researchers have described the new vaccine as the first meningitis vaccine developed specially⁶ for Africa.  They say it “dramatically reduced” the number of cases in Chad and stopped the disease from spreading.

The World Health Organization says meningitis affects nearly 500 million people every year in African countries south of the Sahara Desert.  The disease can be deadly, often killing⁷ people who were treated for it. 

James Stuart is a professor at the London School of Hygiene⁸ and Tropical Medicine.  He helped to write a report on the new vaccine, known as MenAfriVac.  It targets the type-A form of the disease. 

Dr.  Stuart and other researchers looked at the effects of MenAfriVac vaccine on 1.8 million people across three areas in Chad.  All those receiving the vaccine were under the age of 29.  The study took place during the 2012 meningitis epidemic⁹, when the disease infected many people. 

Dr.  Stuart says the number of meningitis cases dropped in the part of the country that was vaccinated¹⁰.  He says MenAfriVac completely prevented type A meningitis in all of the vaccinated areas.  But the disease continued spreading in other areas. 

“Although it wasn’t a trial, it suggested that the vaccine was having a very positive effect on protecting people against meningitis.” 

The disease can spread quickly, passing from person to person through bacteria that live in the throat.  The World Health Organization says more than one million cases of meningitis have been reported in Africa since 1988.  The highest incidence of the disease is reported in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Dr. Stuart says no other meningitis vaccines¹¹ have proven to be as effective as MenAfriVac. 

“The new vaccine seems to stop people carrying the germ and stop it being therefore transmitted, whereas the old vaccine did not have an effect on carriage, so it didn’t stop the germ being transmitted between people.”

He says that the vaccine will sell for less than 50 cents per person in sub-Saharan Africa.  He also says it can be included as part of normal preventative vaccinations for children.

Researchers continue to study the long-term effects of the drug.  But Dr. Stuart says there have not been any signs of harmful side effects in individuals who were treated.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

1 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

2 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

4 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。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

11 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。