VOA标准英语2013--Disabilities Prevent Aging Africans from Being Productive

 

Disabilities Prevent Aging Africans from Being Productive

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania said the findings are significant as older people with functional¹ limitations have difficulty performing work that is required in their agricultural settings.  If not addressed, the economic consequences could be devastating² to the income of families whose livelihoods³ depend on food production. 

Collin Payne, lead researcher  of the study, and graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, explained that the data that was used was based on the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health.  It’s an ongoing⁴ look at rural populations in Malawi conducted by the University of Pennsylvania.

“What we’re measuring are different kinds of inabilities to perform daily life activities in this rural context-- so taking care of livestock⁵, helping⁶ out on the farm, these types of activities.  We find that women at age 45 expect to spend about 60 percent of their remaining life unable to do some of these tasks.  For men, the figures are about 40 percent.  And as individuals age older and older, their remaining life that they can do some of these daily activities, it’s shorter and shorter,”  explained Payne.     

While the study did not focus on any particular diseases that would have contributed to the rapid deterioration⁷ of physical abilities, Payne said the decline in their health could very well be attributed to a life time of hardship starting at birth.  

“I think in large part, it is due to sort of this overall life-long burden of disability.  From birth to death there’s a lot of exposure to chronic⁸, communicable and non-communicable diseases burdened with some periods of under-nutrition early in the life course. So by the time people are reaching their mid-forties and fifties, they’ve already experienced a lot of pressures on their health, and these are compounded later in the later life,” said Payne.    

As a result, he said, there needs to be a revision of current national health policies and international donor⁹ funded health programs.

The lead researcher noted¹⁰, “I think in large part what could help individual health is a larger focus from individual countries in the region, larger non-governmental organizations, and other policy groups, to expand availability of basic health care services to this population.  It is a very underserved population.  It’s a population that is growing rapidly.  In 2010, the population over 45 years in sub-Saharan Africa was only 10 percent of the population.  U.N. projections¹¹ say that by 2060 it’s going to be a quarter of the population.”     

Dr. Hans Peter Kohler, another of the researchers of the study, agreed with Payne that most health interventions¹² have focused on communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and other diseases like malaria¹³. 

However, Kohler said their study is significant in that it points out that there should more health care policies that focus on chronic illnesses and disabilities.

“We know from other studies that pain is presumably a very big issue.  And so, what we are arguing here is that these disease patterns and the effect on the economic implications are not very well understood, but they’re very dramatic in the sense about how much they actually limit an individual’s abilities to work and perform day to day tasks,” explained Kohler.       

The researchers of the study agreed that investing in the health of older men and women will also bring about improvements in the quality of their lives but also, boost economic growth for generations to come.

1 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

12 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

13 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。