VOA慢速英语2020--封城令数百万妇女得不到避孕措施

Stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus have made it impossible for millions of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere to get birth control.

The women have no idea when they will be permitted to go out again to get access to birth control or other reproductive health needs.

With population movements restricted across the world, women are being forced "to lock down their uterus," Abebe Shibru told the Associated Press. He is the Zimbabwe country director for Marie Stopes International, an organization that helps women learn about birth control. "But there is no way in a rural area," he added.

Eighteen countries in Africa have national stay-at-home orders, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. All but important workers or those seeking food or health care must stay home for weeks, maybe longer. Rwanda was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to put such an order in place. It has extended it for two weeks, a sign of possible things to come.

Even where birth control remains¹ available, many women fear going out and being beaten by security forces and accused of breaking the rules. Also, services that help rural women have mostly stopped travelling to avoid spreading the virus from one community to another.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation² (IPPF) says in a new report that more than 20 percent of its small medical stations around the world have closed because of the pandemic and restrictions³. More than 5,000 mobile medical stations across 64 countries have closed. Most are in South Asia and Africa, but Latin America and Europe have seen hundreds of closures as well.

From Pakistan to Germany to Colombia, IPPF members say they have decreased services such as HIV testing and trips to investigate gender-based violence reports. Many countries also have a shortage of birth control medication and devices.

"They have needs that cannot wait," IPPF director-general Alvaro Bermejo said of women in a statement. He asked national governments to help provide birth control to women.

In Europe, 100 non-governmental groups have called on governments to make some reproductive health services available during the pandemic. The French government said last month that pharmacies⁴ could take birth control medication to women unable to see a doctor while ordered to stay at home.

The result is predicted to produce a baby boom of population growth in Africa. Some experts have said they believe Africa's 1.3 billion population could increase 100 percent by 2050.

In Zimbabwe last year, Marie Stopes gave more than 400,000 women family planning services, Abebe Shibru said. That included preventing nearly 50,000 unsafe abortions⁶. But now the organization's services for rural women have stopped. Even at the few, small medical stations still open, the number of visitors has dropped by 70 percent.

Future Gwena works with people in the community for Marie Stopes. She told the AP the situation leaves many men and women trapped inside their homes with little to do.

"Husband and wife, what else can they be doing in that house?" she asks. "I think we're going to have a lot of pregnancies⁷... most will result in unsafe abortions...violence."

Another problem has been virus-related shutdowns in countries that manufacture birth control. This has led to supply shortages across Africa.

Birth control devices and medication were "supposed to come today to serve us for the coming six months," Shibru said. But the arrivals were cancelled.

In Uganda, Marie Stopes country director Carole Sekimpi said it is not known when emergency birth control devices and medication sent from India will arrive. There have been no new shipments for a month.

"Yesterday when I heard (neighboring) Kenya talking about a lockdown in Nairobi and (the port of) Mombasa, I thought, ‘My god, what's going to happen?" she said. "Overall, there's definitely going to be a problem."

She expects not only an increase in births, but a rise in unsafe abortion⁵ and post-abortion care as well. She also believes some women may try to remove birth control devices they have in their bodies because they are afraid no family planning worker will be available to help them later.

Words in This Story

access – n. to be able to find or get

uterus – n. the organ in women and most females mammals in which a child develops before it is born

pandemic n. a disease that spread internationally

mobile – adj. on wheels, something that can go from one place to another place

pharmacy⁸ – n. a place where people go to get medicine

abortion – n. the termination of a pregnancy⁹

baby boom – n. a time when many women have babies

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 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。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

7 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

8 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

9 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。