VOA标准英语2009-World Health Assembly Discusses New Health Chall

The annual World Health Assembly has opened with delegates from 193 member countries discussing how to protect people from diseases such as the swine flu virus that is spreading around the world.
　
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan (R), flanked by US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in Geneva, 18 May 2009

World Health Organization Director-General, Margaret Chan, says the world is facing multiple crises, on multiple fronts. And, these are occurring at a time when the global economic crisis is making it more difficult to maintain good health, especially in the developing world.

The WHO Chief says the new Swine Flu A-H1N1 virus shows how health challenges are changing.

"The world today is more vulnerable to the adverse¹ effects of an influenza² pandemic than it was in 1968, when the last pandemic of the previous century began," said Margaret Chan. "The speed and volume of international travel have increased to an astonishing degree. As we are seeing right now with H1N1, any city with an international airport is at risk of an imported case."

Dr. Chan says increased interdependence among nations creates a great potential for economic disruption. This means the gap between the haves and the have-nots will grow even larger than it already has.

"Today, about 85 percent of the burden of chronic³ diseases is concentrated in low and middle income countries," she said. "The implications are obvious. The developing world has, by far, the largest pool of people at risk for severe and fatal H1N1 infections."

Dr. Chan urges the international community to do everything it can to help developing countries from bearing the brunt of disease pandemics. And she says while the world is right to be concerned about a possible flu pandemic, it should not let these worries overshadow or interrupt other vital health programs.

She says health ministers attending this week's Assembly should take the opportunity to respond to threats to their health systems. She says a priority is to finish the job of polio eradication⁴.

She says the global campaign that WHO started in 1988 is very close to achieving its goal of ridding the world of this terrible paralytic⁵ disease.

1 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

2 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

3 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

4 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。

5 paralytic   

adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人

参考例句：

• She was completely paralytic last night.她昨天晚上喝得酩酊大醉。
• She rose and hobbled to me on her paralytic legs and kissed me.她站起来，拖着她那麻痹的双腿一瘸一拐地走到我身边，吻了吻我。