VOA标准英语2009年-West, Central Africa Fall Behind Global Im

The U.N. children's fund says infant morality around the world has dropped nearly 30 percent during the past two decades. But that improvement in child survival is far smaller in West and Central Africa where growing populations are straining health services.
　
Children salvage¹ a failed harvest of potatoes, at the parent farm in Laikipia District, some 200 kilometers from the capital city of Nairobi, Kenya, 17 Aug 2009

The new U.N. estimates on deaths of children under five shows an 18-percent decline in West and Central Africa since 1990. It is good news, but only to a point as the rate of that decline does not appear to be accelerating, and health officials fear that larger populations mean the actual number of infants dying in the region may be growing.

"The decline is there. It is not as much as other regions in the world. It reflects high population and high fertility," said Martin Dawes, the chief of communications for UNICEF in West and Central Africa.

Dawes says many governments are working hard to improve infant mortality in West and Central Africa, but the survival rate is not as good as UNICEF had hoped. That is partly a result of the strain that growing populations are putting on national health care systems, especially in rural areas where infant mortality increases when access to primary medical care is limited.

"Certainly their rates of survival increase when a sick child is near someone who can identify what is wrong and deal with it," added Dawes. "Around the world, pneumonia² and diarrhea are the biggest killers³ of children. In this region, it is still malaria⁴."

Insecticide-treated bed nets have helped improve survival for children under five as have immunization campaigns, dietary supplements, and programs to encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies for at least one year.

Forty percent of the world's under-five deaths occur in just three countries - India, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nigeria alone accounts for 12 percent of the world's infant mortality.
　
Dudu Ndwandwe, 18, rests with her newly-born baby girl at the Edendale Hospital near Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (File)

Dawes says that is partly a function of large population.

"High population will always cause these figures to be challenging - just the sheer numbers of children at risk, the sheer number of children malnourished, the sheer number of children out of school," said Dawes.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is also a result of years of conflict.

"When you have situations of conflict or civil strife⁵ it is much harder to get out these quick interventions⁶, such as the treated bed nets for malaria," Dawes continued. "It is much harder for the population to get to health centers, if health centers even exist. And it is of course harder to run vaccination⁷ campaigns."

Dawes says mortality rates for children under five are a leading indicator⁸ of what is going on within the health services of a country and the general health of the population.

"Child mortality is at the center of many countries' development stories. This is accepted," added Dawes. "The question now is a matter of resources and getting out information to people and getting out the right supplies such as treated nets, and ensuring that there is vaccination amongst the majority of the population."

The new analysis of infant mortality is based on a range of demographic information collected by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the U.N. Population Division.

Compared to 1990, the new report says 10,000 fewer children are dying each day around the world. But UNICEF says it is still unacceptable that each year, more than eight million children die before their fifth birthday.

1 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

2 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

3 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

4 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。

5 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

6 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

7 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。

8 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。