VOA标准英语2014--埃博拉疫情反映出世卫组织应变不足?

 

Does Ebola Reveal WHO Shortfalls? 埃博拉疫情反映出世卫组织应变不足?

As the Ebola outbreak rages in three West African countries – and raises fears abroad – some are questioning whether the World Health Organization is being stretched too thin. A proposal for a new global agency to deal strictly¹ with infectious diseases is gaining some support.

Dr. Harvey Rubin writes that that “local phenomena² can have global consequences.” And he points to the Ebola epidemic³ as a prime example.

Rubin is director of the Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He and ISTAR’s associate director Nicholas Saidel have written in New Scientist Magazine that “global infectious disease control, as it now stands, is a disjointed effort riddled⁴ with gaps and inconsistencies.” Rubin said this can be seen in the response to Ebola.

“The world’s response has been late and incomplete. This is a tragedy at many, many levels. And obviously people are dying, commerce is impacted, economic development is impacted, but, overwhelmingly, people are dying and we could have done a better job as a global community. There have been some groups that have been absolutely fantastic like Doctors Without Borders and individual aid groups have been putting their own lives at stake. But the global community has dropped the ball.”

Rubin said many have been worried about such a scenario⁵ for a long time.

“A lot of this, maybe not all of it, but a lot of this could have been avoided with a more robust⁶ global governance system for infectious disease. This was predictable. We’ve been talking and writing about this for a long time now – for at least several years. Other people have been writing about this,” he said.

TB, malaria⁷, various types of hepatitis, MERS, the flu, avian flu, measles⁸, polio and Ebola – these are some of the infectious diseases the WHO has tracked and monitored over the years. And then there are the many noncommunicable diseases on the rise, such as diabetes⁹, obesity¹⁰, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

“Believe me,” said Dr. Rubin, “I’m not critical of the World Health Organization or any of the other groups. They are so over stretched with so many things to worry about. Arguably, more people die of infectious diseases than just about anything else. A lot of these are preventable diseases and the World Health Organization has a huge mandate¹¹.”

He said there’s a looming¹² health crisis that’s not getting nearly as much attention as Ebola.

“If I had to list the number one problem that we see across the borders and certainly in this country, it’s antibiotic¹³ resistant¹⁴ bacteria. We have an epidemic already and an impending¹⁵ doom¹⁶ and disaster – and I don’t want to overstate this – but we have organisms in this country in our hospitals that are resistant to just about every antibiotic that we have. Antibiotic resistant bacteria is an enormous problem,” he said.

He’s calling for a Global Governance Structure for Infectious Disease – a place where any nation can go and raise the alarm about a potential infectious threat. He said it would provide a more focused approach.

“What kinds of resource are available for us? Are there experimental drugs that we could start developing? Are there ways to distribute these drugs? Are there ways to do surveillance that’s meaningful? Are there ways to harmonize and align¹⁷ various regulatory aspects of getting drugs and vaccines¹⁸ to the places that are needed? That’s what we mean by a focused approach on infectious disease. There is no other group like that.”

He said the proposed Global Governance Structure for Infectious Disease should be a public/private stand-alone agency that receives serious input¹⁹ from the United Nations and others.

The New Scientist article lists four interconnected goals: “First, coordinate²⁰ the collection, sharing and analysis of infectious disease information in real time; second, encourage the private sector²¹ to develop and distribute affordable²² drugs, vaccines and diagnostics; third, establish a network of international centers for fundamental research into microbial threats; and fourth, promote standards for best laboratory, regulatory and ethical²³ practice.”

Rubin said the aim is to not have such an agency bogged²⁴ down in bureaucracy.

“We want to have it streamlined. We want to have decision-making with adequate input and transparent²⁵ -- and with the recognition of world leaders that this can only help everybody. There are no borders here. Out of all the diseases that we talk and lecture to the students about, we would always say, oh, Ebola is over there. It’s remote. It burns itself out. Now it’s in New York. It’s in Texas. We have to rethink from the beginning our, sort of, entrenched²⁶ ideas.”

He said it could begin as a grassroots effort, but adds it may be just the right time for it to happen.

“When I’ve given this talk around the world I have enormous support by members in my own medical community, a lot of the NGOs – even the engineering community and the policy community. So the academics really understand this and we’re used to collaborating²⁷ across countries and across domains²⁸ and across disciplines. The buzz words around now are innovation and multi-disciplinary. Well, if anybody wants innovation and multi-disciplinary, this is it.”

The University of Pennsylvania medical professor said it must be a self-sustaining agency with innovative²⁹ ways of funding. Dr. Rubin added that it won’t work if it has to rely on donors³⁰.

The staff of the Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response includes doctors, lawyers, business leaders, engineers and political scientists. 

1 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

2 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

3 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

4 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

6 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

7 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。

8 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

9 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。

10 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

11 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

12 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

13 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

14 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

15 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

16 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

17 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

18 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

19 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

20 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

21 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。

22 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。

23 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

24 bogged   

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• The professor bogged down in the middle of his speech. 教授的演讲只说了一半便讲不下去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tractor is bogged down in the mud. 拖拉机陷入了泥沼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

26 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

27 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

28 domains   

n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产

参考例句：

• The theory of thermodynamics links the macroscopic and submicroscopic domains. 热力学把宏观世界同亚微观世界联系起来。 来自辞典例句
• All three flow domains are indicated by shading. 所有三个流动区域都是用阴影部分表示的。 来自辞典例句

29 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。

30 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》