VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-05-18 Does a Fast-Growing Economy Mean Healthier Children?

 

AS IT IS 2014-05-18 Does a Fast-Growing Economy Mean Healthier Children? 经济快速增长意味着孩子更健康吗?

Hello again, and welcome to As It Is! I’m Jonathan Evans in Washington.

Today on the program, we take a look at how Somalia is working to rebuild its economy. But first, a recent study questions whether placing attention on economic growth is the best way to improve child nutrition in low- and middle-income countries.  Mario Ritter has more.

Subu Subramanian is a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts.  He says there is a common belief on the best way to improve child health in developing countries.    He puts it this way:

"Let’s just go after economic growth and then everything else will just follow."

But, he says, that is not always true.  Take India, for example.  A common measure of a country’s economic health is gross domestic product, or GDP.  India’s GDP has been growing by more than five percent a year.  That is a higher growth rate than most Western countries. 

Yet more than two-fifths of India’s children are underweight.  And Subu Subramanian says the percentage of underweight children has changed little since the early 1990s.

He and other researchers asked a question.  Was economic growth failing to reach children in countries other than India?  They looked at health surveys carried out since 1990 in 36 low- and middle-income countries, mostly south of Africa’s Sahara Desert.  

The researchers compared the effect of GDP growth and signs of child malnutrition¹, like stunted² growth and being underweight.  But the researchers found only a small relationship, or correlation³. 

“Practically zero to very, very small.”

The group reported their findings in the journal Lancet Global Health.

Subu Subramanian says money should be spent on clean water and waste treatment systems, childhood immunization campaigns and other programs.  

“Without these direct investments, what we are seeing is economic growth by itself is not making much impact.”

But that is not how Lawrence Haddad sees the issue.  He is head of the Institute of Development Studies in Britain.

Lawrence Haddad says malnutrition has dropped sharply over the past 20 years in countries like Vietnam, Ghana or Brazil.  He says economic growth was responsible for half of those declines.  

“And the other half is attributable to strategic investments in water, sanitation⁴, health systems, nutrition programs.”

He says it takes both GDP growth and the right investments to improve child nutrition. I’m Mario Ritter.

You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

For years, Somalia has been called a failed state.  Piracy⁵, poverty and terrorism have been problems in the country for a long time.  But recent improvements suggest that the country is taking steps toward lasting⁶ security. Here again is Mario Ritter.

Conference Seeks to Rebuild Somalia's Economy

Somali officials say a stronger economy is extremely important to peace.  Last week, Somali officials traveled to the United Arab Emirates hoping to attract foreign investment.  The event, called The Somalia Investment Summit, was held in Dubai.  The goal was to present Somalia as a good place to invest.

Somalia is still dealing⁷ with the effects of a 20-year civil war.  Foreign intervention⁸ is the main cause of increased security in the country.  Over the past year, African Union troops helped drive al-Shabab militants⁹ from major cities.  And international naval¹⁰ forces have sharply decreased pirate attacks.

But, Ali Mohamed Gedi warns that the results of these efforts could be temporary.  Mr. Gedi is the former prime minister of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government. He says poverty must be ended. He says poverty is the reason young people join al-Shabab.

"If we create jobs for them I believe that they’ll play a role in the stabilization¹¹ and the security of the country."

The chairman of the Somali Economic Forum¹², Hassan Dudde, agrees.  He says the pull of illegal activity, such as piracy, is strong when there are no jobs available.  He says attracting investment to Somalia now, while security is improving, is very important. 

“I think what the international organizations and the international community is starting to realize is that bringing troops to Somalia will not be the answer to this problem. When people have jobs and a better life they will be less likely to get in trouble.”

Although conditions in Somalia are improving, safety threats remain. Somalia lacks a central government.  Corruption is common.  And the workforce¹³ is largely unskilled. These problems concern possible investors¹⁴.

Also, there are no secure legal safeguards for foreign investors. Hirsi Dirir is Chief Executive Officer of Dahabshil Bank, which operates in 130 businesses in the country.

“Investors are a bit afraid of going into situations like that, but there’s a huge opportunity.”

Somali officials are preparing legislation to create investment safeguards. And, increased security has led to a growing number of foreign investors. Currently, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen are the top investors in Somalia.

I’m Mario Ritter.

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

3 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

4 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

5 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

13 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会