VOA标准英语2010年-Spanish Doctors Train Kenyan Counterpa

In Kenya, kidney failure has skyrocketed over the past five years following a dramatic rise in diabetes¹, hypertension and other ailments². The demand for dialysis - an expensive procedure for most Kenyans - far outstrips³ the supply of dialysis machines. And the few transplants that take place are also expensive. Through a partnership⁴ formed last year, Spanish doctors are now training a team of Kenyan doctors to perform sophisticated, affordable⁵ kidney transplants.

It's one of six kidney transplants done by the Spanish-Kenyan team in mid-March at Kenya's largest public health facility, Kenyatta National Hospital. Lead surgeon Dr. Antonio Alcaraz instructs fellow surgeons and students watching the procedure through closed-circuit television.

Meanwhile, 25-year-old Caroline Kinyanjui is recovering from her surgery earlier in the week.  She donated one of her kidneys to her father, Peter Kibe, who is suffering from hypertension. "I love my dad. He has poured quite a lot of his life into me by just bringing me up in a very sober way and taking care of me. I know he would do the same if I was in that position, so I was purely⁶ driven by love and understanding that I can still live a normal life after this," she said.

Kenya's first kidney transplant took place in 1978.  But the procedure was not regularly available until ten years later.  Kenyatta National  Hospital did only two last year.

At the same time, skyrocketing rates of kidney failure, caused by diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, make it urgent to offer more - and more sophisticated - transplants.

And that is where the Spanish team comes in. Towards the end of last year, Kenyatta National Hospital and the drug company Novartis formed a partnership called "Interlife," and invited doctors from the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona to train Kenyan doctors on new transplant techniques.

Lead surgeon Dr. Antonio Alcaraz is head of the Barcelona hospital's Renal Unit. "When we first came here, we saw that there were few facilities to undertake a very important program, a sophisticated one like a living donor⁷ program. But we thought it was enough, and we were especially impressed by the commitment of people - doctors and nurses - in trying to develop that program. So we said we will accept the challenge of raising up this program here in Kenya," he said.

While an estimated one million Kenyans suffer from kidney disease, dialysis and transplants to battle the condition are limited and expensive.

In the public health care system, for example, only two hospitals are equipped with dialysis machines, which remove impurities⁸ from the blood when the kidneys can not do it.

One of those is Kenyatta National Hospital, where almost 150 patients need dialysis, but the hospital's dialysis machines can only handle 35 patients per week.

And the minimum cost of dialysis - $117 (Ksh 9,000) a week - is virtually unaffordable for low-income patients even though it is a subsidized rate..

The Interlife partnership is now able to offer a kidney transplant and follow-up treatment for around $4,550 (Ksh 350,000) - about half of what it used to be. The drug company Novartis is supplying the necessary drugs at not-for-profit prices. Health officials say a transplant is now cheaper in the long run than continued dialysis sessions.

Dr. Patrick Mbugua says Kenyans no longer need to go to India or other places to get their kidney transplants. "We are able to do these transplants locally. We have got the expertise⁹ in this country and the only thing that we needed to do is to publicize and tell them, 'Yes, you do not have to spend all the money and go outside there, leave the comfort of your country and the beloved ones to have the transplants outside there - we can do it here," he said.

Samuel Nyabwana, head of Novartis's East and Central Africa office, says Kenya is well-placed to become a  regional transplant center. "I think we have to a large extent all it takes. As Kenyans we have a sufficient pool of nephrologists, a sufficient pool of urologists, and all related scientists who will be involved with this area. We know Kenyatta Hospital has been undertaking¹⁰ the kidney transplants over the years, for the last 25 years," he said.

For now, patients such as Caroline Kinyanjui and her father, Peter Kibe, says they are grateful for the chance to give, and receive, a new life.
 

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

2 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。

3 outstrips   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Technology daily outstrips the ability of our institutions to cope with its fruits. 技术发展的速度超过了我们的制度所能应付其成果的程度。 来自辞典例句
• The significance of the foreign exchange market outstrips its impressive size. 外汇市场的意义超出了它给人的印象尺度。 来自互联网

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

7 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

8 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。

9 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

10 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。