2007年VOA标准英语-Cancer Rates Rising in Africa

By David McAlary
Washington
15 May 2007

Another African epidemic¹ is taking the spotlight², cancer. Experts say aging and infectious diseases are increasing Africa's cancer burden. A new non-governmental group is trying to raise global awareness³ of the problem and held a meeting recently in London that brought together African health ministers and other interested participants. VOA's David McAlary reports from Washington.

More than any other region in the developing world, sub-Saharan Africa faces the twin burden of non-infectious diseases and infectious ones industrial nations conquered decades ago. Now, count cancer among the non-communicable ailments⁴ taking a growing toll⁵ in Africa.

"Unless we start taking action now to make a difference, then the existing health infrastructure⁶ in Africa is going to be overwhelmed by the coming increased cancer incidence coming down the road," said University of Oxford⁷ cancer physician David Kerr.  "By 2020, it is projected there will be 15 million new cases of cancer every year and 70 percent of these will be in the developing world.  In Africa by 2020, we expect there to be more than 1 million new cases of cancer every year."

Cancer killed more than 7 million people around the world in 2005, more than AIDS, tuberculosis⁸, and malaria⁹ combined. That number is expected to rise to more than 11 million each year by 2030.

That means cancer is no longer a disease of only affluent¹⁰ nations, but a health problem everywhere. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the main reasons are steadily¹¹ aging populations, high smoking rates, and the spread of a lifestyle rich in fatty foods and poor in exercise.

The organization's former head of cancer research, Paul Kleihues, says newly industrializing nations are especially at risk.

"India, China and many Asian countries will adopt the Western lifestyle, and we see in these countries an increase in tumors that they rarely knew," he noted¹³.  "To what extent and how fast is difficult to predict."

In sub-Saharan Africa, high-infectious disease rates join aging and smoking to boost cancer rates.  The region accounts for 70 percent of the tumors associated with AIDS, such as the skin cancer Kaposi's sarcoma, the most common male cancer in Africa. The most common female tumor¹² in Africa is cancer of the cervix, a disease associated with human papillomavirus (HPV).  The high prevalence of the Hepatitis B virus is causing many liver cancers.

Poor nutrition aggravates¹⁴ the situation because it compromises the immune system.

David Kerr says cancer survival rates in poor countries are often less than half those in industrial nations.  In Africa, he says, cancer is a sentence to a painful and distressing¹⁵ death, because treatment and care are lacking.

That is why he has begun Oxford University's Africa-Oxford Cancer Consortium, called AfrOx, and organized a recent two-day international conference in London to raise global awareness about the issue. The meeting included 23 African health ministers, leading African medics, world-renowned cancer specialists, officials of the World Health Organization and development banks, investment bankers, and the Gates Foundation.

Kerr says the conference issued a London Declaration.

"This sets out some very simple precepts¹⁶ that say that we, the global cancer alliance, the global community, must support African health ministers to start preparing for cancer," he added.

The London Declaration set out a plan of action for African cancer care. It calls for vaccination¹⁷ against tumor-related infections, early diagnosis¹⁸ and screening, access to modern cancer treatment, and easing the pain of dying, now often medicated only by aspirin¹⁹ instead of stronger painkillers²⁰.

"We do need to bring some additional resources to bear, but it need not be a huge amount of money. Some of the curable childhood cancers can be treated for $1 a day," he said.  "So although there are new cancers drugs that are terribly expensive, we would start building the pyramid from the bottom and we could use so-called generic²¹ drugs, which are available cheaply."

Kerr says the cancer conference declaration is being presented at the annual World Health Assembly of national health ministers now under way in Geneva and will be discussed at an African Union health ministers meeting in August. He is hopeful that it will stimulate²² more global attention and financial support to fight cancer in Africa.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if by 2020 we had reduced the projected number of cancers by, say, 20 percent?" he asked.  "That would be a reasonable thing to aim for."

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 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。

4 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 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。

9 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。

10 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

11 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

12 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 aggravates   

使恶化( aggravate的第三人称单数 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravates me any more I shall punish him. 如果他再惹我生气，我就要惩罚他。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each pther. 没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

15 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

16 precepts   

n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They accept the Prophet's precepts but reject some of his strictures. 他们接受先知的教训，但拒绝他的种种约束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The legal philosopher's concern is to ascertain the true nature of all the precepts and norms. 法哲学家的兴趣在于探寻所有规范和准则的性质。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

19 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

20 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

21 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

22 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。