VOA标准英语2015--工作超过健康成为首先考虑的问题

Jobs Top Health as Priority 工作超过健康成为首先考虑的问题

A new report says sub-Saharan Africans rate their health and health care systems among the worst in the world. Nevertheless, improving health is not their top priority.

The report’s been released as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone continue to fight the Ebola outbreak – a situation that was made worse by the poor state of their health systems.

Angus Deaton, co-author of the study, said, “I think most of us thought these episodes burnt out very quickly and this one didn’t. And I think that was surprising to a lot of people. But – and this is relevant for our work – health care systems in sub-Saharan Africa are very poorly organized and very badly done. And of course that certainly contributed to the difficulties of bringing it under control.”

Deaton is Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. It’s important, he said, to understand what Africans list as their top priorities. 

“People in Africa don’t think of health as their highest priority, at least for the government -- whereas most aid agencies have been prioritizing health pretty heavily.”

He summarized the views of sub-Saharan Africans based on the findings of Gallup’s annual World Polls.

He said, “They perceive their health pretty badly. They perceive their overall well-being¹ pretty badly. Well-being is broader than just health. So, you know, many people sort of think, well, if you lived in a poor country all your life you’re used to it by now. And you’d be just about as happy as everybody else. But if you ask people how their lives are going sub-Saharan Africans rate those very poorly. So, they know that life could be better.”

The same is true, Deaton said, of their perceptions of health care.

“Can you imagine a health care system that spends about $100 a year per person? That’s not going to deliver very much health care.”

So, if improving poor health care systems is not the top priority among Africans, what is?

“If you asked them what government should be doing for them, they want money and jobs more than they want health, which is interesting. And I think it has something to do with the fact that there’s a lot of morbidity² and mortality in Africa,” he said.

During the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic³ in Africa, health workers say many infected people wanted food more than medical care. They knew the disease would take years to kill them, but a lack of food could do it much sooner.

The findings show jobs are more important because they have an immediate⁴ effect on people’s well-being.

“Some countries less than half of the population has ever had any contact whatsoever⁵ with a health professional. That’s pretty amazing. And there are certainly differences in that across countries. So, you get a country like Sudan or Somaliland, where it’s less than half – and then you places like Benin or Madagascar where 90 percent – or Senegal where more than 90 percent of the people -- have had some contact with health systems somewhere in their lives. So, there’s a huge amount of variability across Africa,” he said.

After an initial slow response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak, the international community poured in a lot of money and resources. Some observers say this will allow Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, not only to get better health care systems, but to maintain them. Deaton doubts this and said they could easily slip back to pre-Ebola conditions.

“I don’t think just very easily. I’d be stunned⁶ if it didn’t happen. The fundamental problem is just incapacity of the state,” he said.

The Princeton professor said donors⁷ and aid agencies should take the study’s findings seriously. They show that 31 percent chose jobs as their top priority, while 21 percent picked improving agriculture. Nearly 14 and a half percent chose tackling corruption⁸, while 13 and a half percent decided⁹ on education and health care. Just over six percent chose electricity as the top priority.

The study said those who chose jobs and agriculture shared an underlying¹⁰ factor – better livelihoods¹¹.

1 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

2 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网

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 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

6 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

7 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》

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

11 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。