红十字协会称不洁净的水威胁数百万人的生命

 

Red Cross Report: Unsafe Water Kills Millions

红十字协会称不洁净的水威胁数百万人的生命

 

The International Red Cross reports more than one billion people do not have access to safe water, and nearly 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation¹. The agency says more than three million people die each year from diseases spread through dirty water and bad sanitation.

 

Red Cross Senior Water and Sanitation Officer Robert Fraser says the agency's 10-year initiative for improving water and sanitation conditions will focus on the poorest, most vulnerable communities in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. He says involving local communities in the fund-raising, maintenance and hygiene² aspects of these projects will be key to their success.

 

Mr. Fraser: There is no point in us building water supplies or sanitation facilities, if the communities themselves cannot be able to maintain them, or to operate them in the long term. It is a hard fact, a harsh reality, if you like, that it will be the communities themselves that will be needed to maintain these systems. So, the technology choice must be very simple and appropriate, and so that the cost of maintaining them is kept at an absolute minimum. Typically, it would be for a family something like 10 to 20 cents American [money] per month.

 

Mr. Fraser says that's a cost that even the poorest family can afford.

 

Over the past 10 years, the Red Cross has provided clean water and sanitation for 2.5 million people. The agency says it wants to expand these long-term developmental projects to improve conditions for six million people over the next 10 years.

 

Mr. Fraser says there is no doubt that these schemes save lives. As an example, he cites a community in eastern Zimbabwe that suffered an outbreak of cholera³ in 1998. He says many people became ill and died because the community had no latrines and very few clean water sources.

 

Mr. Fraser: So then, with the community, with the government we started a program of drilling bore holes, putting in hand-pumps, training the community how to service and look after the hand pumps. We began a latrine construction project with the community, where they provided some of the labor⁴, some of the materials, and we would provide things like cement and so on, help them to build their latrines.

 

And, then added to that, the very important health promotion⁵. Since that time, that was '98, since that time, we have not had another cholera outbreak.

 

Mr. Fraser says it is possible to provide a safe supply of water for about $20 a year for each person in most developing countries. At that rate, he calculates, it will cost about $125 million to implement⁶ safe water and sanitation projects for six million people over the next 10 years.

 

The Red Cross-Red Crescent initiative coincides with the United Nations "International Decade for Action" to focus on water-related issues and development. The United Nations will officially launch the 10-year "Water for Life" initiative on World Water Day, March 22.

 

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.

 

注释：

sanitation [sAni5teiFEn] n. 卫生

hygiene [5haidVi:n] n. 卫生学

cholera [5kClErE] n. 霍乱

cement [si5ment] n. 水泥

latrine [lE5tri:n] n. 公共厕所

calculate [5kAlkjuleit] v. 计算

1 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

2 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。

3 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。