VOA常速英语2007-Millions of TB Patients to Receive Life Saving D

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
08 October 2007

The World Health Organization says more than three-quarters of a million people in 19 countries, most in Africa, will receive life-saving anti-tuberculosis¹ drugs over the next year and a half. It says UNITAID, an international funding agency, will donate nearly $27 million to the initiative. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

The project is seen as an important stopgap measure. At the end of next year, the 19 countries will receive money to pay for their tuberculosis treatment programs from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria².

In the meantime, these countries are faced with a life-threatening shortage of anti-tuberculosis drugs because they do not have the money to pay for them.

Executive Director of WHO's Stop TB Partnership³, Marcos Espinal, says if these countries do not receive support, the majority of people in TB programs, will not be able to complete their treatment.

"They do not have the possibilities to afford buying treatments that these people need. So, basically, it is a very conservative estimate of people that could end up being dead, that could end up developing drug-resistance and could spend two to three years wandering around spreading disease to their children and to their households," said Espinal.

The World Health Organization says there are nearly nine million new cases of tuberculosis every year, including 1.6 million deaths. It says about one-third of the world population infected with the bacteria that causes tuberculosis is in Africa.

Fourteen of the 19 countries that will benefit from the joint⁴ W.H.O./UNITAID project are in Africa. The other countries include Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burma, Iraq and Tajikistan.

Dr. Espinal notes the TB and HIV/AIDS epidemics⁵ are closely linked in Africa. He says treating HIV/AIDS patients for tuberculosis will prolong their lives.

"We do not provide anti-retrovirals. But, we work very close with the organisms that provide anti-retrovirals," the doctor explained. "There are already guidelines and specific policies suggested for countries to implement⁶ collaborative activities between the HIV programs and the TB programs. Both programs are to work together on country level in order to avoid or to reduce the burden of HIV disease among people affected⁷ with TB. And, also to reduce the burden of TB among people affected with HIV."

The World Health Organization estimates a six-month course of treatment costs $20 per person. The program will buy low-cost generic⁸ drugs manufactured in India.

The project also will establish a stockpile of anti-tuberculosis drugs that will be made available to countries facing shortages because of humanitarian⁹ emergencies.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。