HEALTH REPORT – World Tuberculosis Day, 2005

HEALTH REPORT – World Tuberculosis¹ Day, 2005
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Thursday is World Tuberculosis Day. It is recognized on March twenty-fourth each year to raise awareness² about the international health threat of tuberculosis.

Health officials from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention organize the event each year. They say it is a valuable chance to educate the public about TB and how it can be stopped. TB is caused by a mycobacterium. The disease spreads easily through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or even talks. But people infected with the disease will not necessarily become sick. The organism can live in the body for years before becoming active.

In the late eighteen hundreds, TB killed one out of every seven people living in the United States and Europe. On March twenty-fourth, eighteen eighty-two, Robert Koch announced the discovery of the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis. At the time, it was the most important step towards controlling and ending this deadly disease.

One hundred years later, the World Health Organization and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease organized the first World TB Day. The event was designed to educate the public about the international health and economic effects of the disease, especially in developing countries.

Today, tuberculosis infects at least eight million people each year. It also is the second leading cause of death around the world. The disease kills two million to three million people each year. Only Acquired Immune³ Deficiency⁴ Syndrome⁵ kills more people. Eleven million people are infected with both tuberculosis and the virus that causes AIDS.

A combination of medicines is used to treat tuberculosis. But experts say the drug treatment is no longer effective against the disease in many parts of the world. This is because the mycobacterium has developed defenses against it. Doctors say the resistance resulted from patients failing to follow directions for taking the medicines.

Researchers recently discovered a new drug that may help the fight against tuberculosis. The substance is called R-two-zero-seven-nine-one-zero. Scientists have just begun to test the experimental drug in people.

Health officials say with enough efforts and resources, TB can be cured and controlled.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Gwen Outen.

1 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。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 immune   

adj.免疫的，有免疫力的，不受影响的，免除的

参考例句：

• I am immune from the disease,for I had it once.我对这病有免疫力，因为我已得过一次了。
• Be immune from corruption.拒腐蚀，永不沾。

4 deficiency   

n.缺乏，不足，缺点，缺陷

参考例句：

• During the war children suffered from a deficiency of food.战争期间孩子们遭受缺乏食物之苦。
• Fortunately,color deficiency is not a serious medical problem.幸运的是，色盲并不是一种严重的医学问题。

5 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。