2007年VOA标准英语-Malaria Drug Program Aids Isolated Parts of Uga

By Cathy Majtenyi
Uganda
05 June 2007
 

The Ugandan government has come up with an innovative¹ program to distribute malaria² drugs to patients living far from medical facilities. In some areas of Kiboga District, the program got a boost from the support of a medical aid agency. But following the agency's departure, the program is struggling to continue. Cathy Majtenyi visited Kiboga District and filed this report for VOA.

Kyatto village children are at greater risk of contracting malaria

Hafsah Nabankema prepares a dose of malaria medicine in her house in Kyatto village.

She is soon visited by a woman and her sick baby. Nabankema gives the baby the first of three doses and carefully records the procedures along with other health details. Nabankema is known in Kyatto village as a malaria drug distributor.

Malaria is a huge problem in Kiboga District and other areas of Uganda.  It accounts for about 40 percent of people seeking outpatient medical treatment at Kiboga District Hospital, and it is the number one killer³ of children five years of age and under.

Kiboga District has only one hospital, four doctors, and 102 trained nurses to serve a population of more than 279,000.

To address these and other challenges, in 2002 the Ugandan government implemented⁴ its "Home-Based Management of Fever" policy.

In selected districts including Kiboga, that involved selecting and training volunteers such as Nabankema to distribute malaria drugs at the village level.

Emmanuel Obatre supervises 38 drug distributors in Kapeke sub-county. He explains that villagers trust and respect the local drug distributors who he says are vital in the fight against malaria. "For us, we say that if one person dies in our village, everything collapses⁵ -- you cannot work, you cannot do something.

Obatre worked closely with the medical aid agency AMREF. The agency worked with the government in areas of Kiboga and two other districts from 2003 to 2006. The agency provided the drug distributors with additional training and supervision⁶ and supplies such as plastic containers and bicycles.

Medical personnel ensure that local health workers prepare proper dosages

But drug distributors and those in the more formal health care system say that the government is not continuing to provide the training and supplies that AMREF did, or to even continue the government's original training. They say that makes it more difficult for the volunteer drug distributors to do their work.

Henry Tito Okwalinga is a malaria project officer with AMREF Uganda. He calls on the government to continue supporting the drug distributors.  "I urge them to take up the structures which are there and which AMREF has created, and strengthen them for the good of the work of health promotion⁷, especially the Home-Based Management of Fever."

Dr. Allan Muruta is the director of Kiboga District Health Services. He explains that he has tried to get funding from higher levels of government to maintain the program without success. "My experience has been very futile⁸ because over the last three years, we've been getting the same amount of money in spite of the fact that the population has been increasing and that the demands are becoming more on the health sector⁹. But apparently¹⁰ the government priorities are not so much in health."

Meanwhile, Hafsah Nabankema and her colleague continue to fight malaria in Kyatto village, doing what they can to ease the suffering of those afflicted¹¹ with the scourge¹².

1 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

2 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。

3 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

4 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

5 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

6 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

7 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。

8 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

12 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。