2006年VOA标准英语-US Expands Anti-Malaria Aid to Africa

By David McAlary
Washington
14 December 2006

President Bush has expanded the number of African nations receiving special U.S. aid to combat malaria¹. Mr. Bush says there can be no turning back from his goal of cutting the number of malaria deaths in half in the 15 hardest hit African countries. VOA's David McAlary reports.

President Bush (l) with with actor Isaiah Washington at closing of the White House Summit on Malaria, 14 Dec 2006

The president announced the expanded aid at a Washington malaria summit attended by international experts, African civic² leaders, multilateral organizations, businesses, charities, churches, and non-governmental groups.

It is the next installment³ in a program unveiled last year to contribute $1.2 billion in malaria aid to the 15 African states over five years.

He said, "There's no turning back. We're going to continue to expand the malaria initiative to reach other countries across Africa as quickly as possible."

Mr. Bush's malaria initiative targets Africa because 90 percent of the world's one million or more malaria deaths occur there each year, mostly among children under five.

The expansion adds eight nations to the program -- Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, and Zambia.

The goal of the U.S. program is to increase provision of bed nets treated with insecticide, indoor spraying against mosquitoes, and anti-malaria drugs.

The White House says six million people in Angola, Tanzania, and Uganda are already benefitting from such U.S. assistance, and four more countries were included for aid in June -- Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Senegal.

President Bush says the United States conquered malaria domestically, proving that the disease can be eliminated. But he says America cannot win the global war against it alone.

"This is a global effort to fight malaria," he said. "The United States is proud to take the lead. I encourage other countries to step up and give."

The White House says fighting malaria requires broad international and domestic U.S. support at every level, down to community organizations.

Presidential assistant Anita McBride says this is why Mr. Bush and his wife Laura convened⁴ the Washington summit.

She said, "The purpose of the summit is to jump-start the effort, to educate the American public about malaria, a preventable and treatable disease, and to send a message globally to governments around the world that we need to join together to control malaria."

Earlier in the week, the largest international financier of anti-malaria efforts, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis⁵, and Malaria, said its bed net provision had increased two-thirds last year, from six million to 10 million treated nets.

In addition, the world's largest charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the United States, pledged $84 million to fight malaria.

While President's Bush's program focuses on existing technologies known to work against malaria, the Gates grant aims to develop better controls, improved tests, and a vaccine⁶.

Melinda Gates told the malaria summit that the world must increase spending against the disease. According to the Roll Back Malaria partnership⁷ led by the World Health Organization, global spending falls far short of the more than $3 billion needed annually⁸.

"We need to close the gap in funding and we have to accelerate the science," she said. "Most of all, we need to work together to commit to a coordinated⁹ global strategy."

As President Bush told the summit, the quicker malaria is eliminated, the better off the world will be.

1 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。

2 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

3 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

4 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

5 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

6 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

9 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法