2007年VOA标准英语-Carter Calls For Urgent Action to Eradicate Gui

By Efam Dovi
Accra
09 February 2007

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has called for urgent action to eradicate¹ guinea worm disease in Ghana. Guinea worm is a water-born worm infection that is contracted when people drink water containing the worm's tiny eggs. Inside the human body, the larvae² mature, growing as long as one meter. After a year, the worm emerges through a painful blister³ in the skin, causing long-term suffering and sometimes crippling after-effects. Mr. Carter visited guinea worm endemic areas in Ghana Thursday. Efam Dovi filed this report for VOA from the Ghanian capital, Accra.

Former President Carter gave a chilling account of what he witnessed while visiting Savelugu, in the northern region of Ghana, where the Carter Center is supporting efforts to eradicate the disease.

Jimmy Carter (file photo)

"Little children, three, four, five, six-years-old screaming in pain while the guinea worm came out of different parts of their bodies, and it made me weep with sorrow and anger to see it happening," he recalled. "One older woman who told me she was 57-years-old had guinea worm coming out of the nipple of her breast and another one was coming from her genitals between her legs, and another one was coming out of each foot, she has four guinea worms. She says the last time she had guinea worm was 43 years ago when she was 15-years-old."

 

Northern Ghana accounts for 90 percent of Ghana's over 4,000 guinea worm cases.

 

Mr. Carter said Ghana is actually going backward in controlling the disease. He says the West African nation, is the only country in the world that is not making progress.

"We had at the beginning of our efforts, 20 countries with 3.5 million cases of guinea worm, now we have zero cases in Benin, Mauritania, Uganda, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Cameroon, Yemen, Senegal, India, Kenya, Pakistan, zero cases," Carter said. "Nigeria began with almost 750,000 cases last year they have 16 cases.

 

The former president said though the war in Sudan previously⁴ hampered⁵ eradication⁶ efforts, that country is now making progress.

 

He told VOA that until now, Ghana has not paid adequate attention to the disease and says like all other countries where progress has been made, government commitment is essential in stamping out guinea worm.

 

Mr. Carter calls for massive education of families living in guinea worm infected areas, increased use of water filters, as well as doubling containment⁷ measures, to stop those infected with the parasite⁸ from entering water sources.

 

The director general of Ghana Health Service, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, described the situation as embarrassing, admitting that Ghana was not winning the battle against the disease.

He says the country has an opportunity to redouble efforts to finally eradicate guinea worm.

"He (Carter) will visit Ghana next year, and I hope to God, by the time he gets here, guinea worm is either out of Ghana or we are just there," Akosa said, " in other words probably two cases, because if we don't do that I will find it very difficult to face this man again.

 

Guinea worm is a parasitic⁹, water-born disease that is contracted when people drink infected water.

1 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

2 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

3 blister   

n.水疱；(油漆等的)气泡；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• I got a huge blister on my foot and I couldn't run any farther.我脚上长了一个大水泡，没办法继续跑。
• I have a blister on my heel because my shoe is too tight.鞋子太紧了，我脚后跟起了个泡。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

6 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

7 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

8 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

9 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。