VOA常速英语2013--印度外科医生助小儿麻痹症患者迈出第一步（在线收听）

Indian Surgeon Helping Polio Patients Take First Steps 印度外科医生助小儿麻痹症患者迈出第一步

NEW DELHI — India is getting close to marking its third year without a new recorded polio case, setting the stage for the country to be officially declared polio-free in January. While much has been done to immunize infants against the disease, millions of people are living with polio, unable to live a normal life.But one surgeon is working to change that. 

新德里 - 印度正越来越接近一个新的记录，连续三年没有一例新的小儿麻痹症病例，在一月份已经官方正式宣布无小儿麻痹症国家。虽然很多婴幼儿已经接种了对疾病的免疫，但数以百万计的人仍然患过小儿麻痹症，无法过正常的生活。

At one of New Delhi’s oldest hospitals, in the only designated polio ward in all of India, patients like Abida Khatoon have only one goal.

但是，一位外科医生正在努力改变这种状况。在新德里的最古老的医院之一，在印度唯一指定的小儿麻痹症区域，像Abida Khatoon这样的患者都只有一个目标。

“I can stand and walk," Khatoon said. "I just need a little help, and soon I won’t need that as well. Soon, I will be able to walk on my own.”

“我可以站立和行走，” Khatoon说， “我只是需要一点点帮助，我很快就不再需要。不久，我就能自己走了。”

It took two months of surgery and rehabilitation at St. Stephen’s Hospital for Khatoon to achieve her life-long dream of being able to walk.

Khatoon在圣斯蒂芬医院手术后，花了两个月康复，她一生的梦想就是能走路。

She and other young women in this eight-bed ward credit Dr. Mathew Varghese, an orthopedic surgeon who has devoted his entire career to restoring mobility and dignity to those left crippled by the poliovirus that invades the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.

她和在这个八床病房中的其他年轻女性都信任Mathew Varghese博士，一名整形外科医生，他的整个职业生涯中一直致力于恢复小儿麻痹症患者的活动性和自尊，当脊髓灰质炎病毒侵入大脑和脊髓中，会导致患者的瘫痪致残。

“All these girls have been crawling, except for this one, all the others have been crawling," Varghese said. "The other muscles are very weak. They have never had the opportunity to stand on their two feet. For the first time in their lives - like this girl is paralyzed at six months -- she has never been able to stand on her two feet.”

“所有这些女孩一直是爬行，除了这一个，” Varghese表示说，“其它的肌肉非常弱。她们从来没有机会用双脚站立起来。像这个女孩在六个月时瘫痪了 - 她从来没有能够用双脚站立。”

As India gets closer to officially being declared polio-free, the effect of the massive immunization effort can be seen in the hospital, with Varghese now mostly treating people in their early twenties as opposed to young children some two decades ago.

随着印度越来越接近正式被宣布为无小儿麻痹症，大规模的免疫接种行动的其效果可在医院看到，Varghese表示现在大多治疗的是二十出头的人，而不是幼儿，患者是二十年以前生病的。

In 1990, New Delhi alone saw 3,000 new polio cases. Now that number is zero.The trend is reflected here at this polio ward, where at its peak it saw 600 patients annually. Now that number is down to fewer than 200.

在1990年，仅新德里就看到了3000个新的小儿麻痹症病例。现在这个数字是零。趋势体现在这里，在这样的小儿麻痹症病房，在其高峰期看到每年600例。现在这个数字下降到不到200例。

Rotary International has been on the frontline of India’s polio eradication efforts and helps fund reconstructive surgeries at St. Stephen’s.  Former Rotary President Rajendra Saboo saw the need to give polio patients a second chance at a normal life during a trip to a village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

国际扶轮社一直在印度根除脊髓灰质炎的努力的前线和帮助在圣士提反重建手术的基金。前扶轮总裁Rajendra Saboo在印度北部的北方邦的一个村庄旅行中，看到了需要给小儿麻痹症患者一个正常生活的机会。

“Then another child came, also crawling," said Saboo. "And I said ‘what is happening to these children?’ They seem to have been struck by polio. And the villagers said, ‘no, no, no, just forget them, they are dust.’”

Saboo说： “另一个孩子来了，还爬着，”我说：“这些孩子们正在遭受什么事情吗？他们似乎已经被小儿麻痹症击中了”。村民们说，'不，不，不，只是忘记他们，他们是尘土。”

But Rotary and Varghese did not forget them. Patients hear about the ward and travel to New Delhi from across India in hopes of correcting bent legs and feet. No one is turned away.

但扶轮社和Varghese表示没有忘记他们。来自印度各地的患者听到了这个病房，他们来到了新德里，希望能矫正弯曲的腿和脚。没有人会离去。

After weeks in the hospital, 19-year-old Abida Khartoon is getting ready to go home to her village in Uttar Pradesh.

经过在医院的几个星期后，19岁的Abida Khartoon准备回她在北方邦的村庄。

“If I had only met Dr. Varghese earlier, I wouldn’t have had as much hardship in life," she said. "My hands wouldn’t be so calloused [from using them to get around]. Because of him, I am doing better," she said tearfully.

“如果我能更早遇见Varghese博士，我不会有这样极为困苦的生活，”她说，“我的手不会因为支持行走而出现老茧。因为他，我现在做的更好，”她哭着说。

But Khartoon is not the only one brought to tears. When asked what this surgeon’s dream is -- the answer was simple.

但是Khartoon不是唯一一个带着眼泪的。当这个外科医生被问及梦想是什么 - 答案很简单。

 “My dream," he asked, trying to choke back his own tears. "This ward should be empty. No polio." 

“我的梦想，”他试图强忍着自己的眼泪，说道。“这间病房应该是空的。没有小儿麻痹症患者。”