2006年VOA标准英语-African Health Workers Promote Simple Mala

By Joe Bavier
Niamey, Niger
20 April 2006
 
As part of a worldwide campaign against malaria¹, health workers in Africa are falling back on a proven weapon against the deadly disease: bed nets.  While scientists research new prevention and treatment strategies, experts say the low-tech method is still essential.  Joe Bavier recently visited a bed net distribution program in Niger and has this report for VOA.

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Several hundred women stand in line at a free mosquito-net distribution center in Niger's capital Niamey.
 
As the women leave with their new blue nets wrapped in plastic, a health worker explains how to use them.
 
Since 2000, when African heads of state got together in the Nigerian capital Abuja and promised to cut malaria deaths in half in 10 years, increased attention has focused on the disease which kills about one million Africans annually².
 
Scientists are currently producing new drug treatments, as resistance levels in much of Africa increase.  And several candidate vaccines³ are currently in the works, with the aim of some day eradicating⁴ the disease.
 
But many experts say the best defense⁵ against infection is also one of the oldest: a correctly used, chemically treated, bed net. 
 
The distribution program, funded by the Global Fund, which sponsors plans to combat tuberculosis⁶, AIDS, and malaria worldwide, finished up in Niger last month.  And in the end, at nearly four-thousand distribution points across the country, more than two-million bed nets were handed out.
 
Ibrahim Ousmane, the head of Niger's Fight Against Malaria program, says he hopes the project will have a big impact in fighting the disease, which is one of the primary obstacles to African development.
 
"We have, every year, deaths in Niger by malaria," he says. "And with malaria, people cannot work.  We have, again, pregnant women who have very big problems with malaria.  We think it is the first disease in our country (which) gives us big problems."
 
Along with pregnant women, small children are among the most vulnerable to the disease.  African children account for around 75 percent of malaria deaths worldwide, with one child falling victim every 30 seconds.
 
Nearly a quarter of Niger's 12 million citizens are under the age of five.  The distribution in Niger aimed to give a net to every pregnant women and mother in the country.
 
Women like 36-year-old Leyhana Seybou, who lives in a village several hours from Niamey and received a net in November.
 
Leyhana says she is thankful for the net she received.  With her six children, she says, as soon as one got well, another would begin to show symptoms.  With severe cases, she is forced to travel to the hospital in the capital.  And she says she has little money to spend on medication.
 
Project coordinator⁷ for the International Federation⁸ of the Red Cross, John Haskew says nets, which are cheap and proven effective, form an essential first line of defense against malaria.  He says, through prevention, they can save families the heavy financial burden of treating the illness.
 
"Niger is really pioneering the approach within African countries to really scale up interventions⁹ for malaria control, and this is one of the key Global Fund projects," Haskew says. "Bed nets (are) just one component¹⁰ of an overall strategy of malaria control and prevention.  And to distribute bed nets is absolutely key."
 
Haskew says, the Niger distribution, which was coupled with a measles¹¹ vaccination¹² drive, is just the beginning.  This year the program will operate in several other countries, and eventually advanced anti-malarial drug treatments will also be made available.
 
"There is a measles/malaria partnership¹³ with the Federation of the Red Cross as a key partner," Haskew says. "And we have several countries lined up in 2006 to integrate bed net distributions with measles vaccination.  Angola is one.  Sierra Leone.  And also Mozambique has already taken place this year."

A survey by the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control found that, in Niger, of the 80 percent of households with a mosquito bed net before the free distribution, only one-fifth were using them.
 
Haskew says the next important step in the program will be an intensive program aimed at insuring the new nets will be used properly.   

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

3 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。

4 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 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。

7 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

8 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。

9 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

10 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

11 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

12 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。

13 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。