VOA标准英语2014--麻风歧视阻碍印度的发展

 

Stigma¹ Stymies² India’s Leprosy Battle 麻风歧视阻碍印度的发展

Medical advancements³ in the treatment of leprosy have greatly diminished its impact around the world, largely eliminating the disease from most countries. India made great strides in combating leprosy, but still accounts for a majority of the world’s new cases each year, and the number of newly-infected Indians is rising - more than 130,000 recorded last year. Doctors there say the problem has more to do with society than science.

Christian⁴ charity hospital The Leprosy Mission in Kolkata is among the country’s best for treating leprosy patients.

When a young male patient arrives, a physiologist⁵ checks his arms for signs of nerve damage that can debilitate⁶ and deform⁷. Elsewhere, eye doctors test another patient's vision.

Stigma 

For many patients, the gruesome toll⁸ that the disease inflicts⁹ on their bodies is not the worst part about having leprosy. It’s how other people treat them.

"People hate me because I have leprosy. When they see my festering wounds they fear that I will infect them," one patient confided¹⁰. "So they cover their face and move away from me.”

Social stigma against the disease in India is strong. None of the patients want to be identified by name on camera.

Early drug intervention¹¹ can arrest leprosy’s ruinous impact, but many newly- infected people, who worry about being ostracized¹², hide their condition for years until they start to become disabled.  

An 18-year-old patient got the infection in childhood, but only recently sought medical treatment when it started affecting his hands and feet.

Once at The Leprosy Mission, patients can receive drugs to mitigate¹³ the disease’s impact, get custom-made shoes to fit disfigured feet, or even have prosthetic limbs designed.

But then the time comes for patients to leave, which frequently becomes the biggest challenge, according to Dr. Helen Roberts, superintendent¹⁴ of The Leprosy Mission.

“When the treatment gets over there is often such cases that people don’t want to take them back to their homes. That’s why the treatment becomes very difficult for us because it’s a hospital providing healthcare. But it’s not a home - we cannot keep them here forever,” she explained.

Consequences 

Families effectively disown sons, daughters and siblings¹⁵. Businesses fire infected workers. Many patients end up impoverished¹⁶ and ostracized in places like this leprosy colony, 130 kilometers from Kolkata.

India has made great strides in treating the disease through specialized¹⁷ leprosy clinics. But Dr. Jerry Joshua, a surgeon at The Leprosy Mission, said the fact there is a specialized hospital for leprosy at all is a part of the problem.

“There is actually no need for centers exclusively for leprosy. The treatment that is provided here should be made available to them wherever they can access such as any plastic surgery or orthopedic surgery unit. Unfortunately this is not the case where patients do not mingle¹⁸ with each other,” he said.

Dr. Joshua added that in an ideal situation, hospitals like his should not exist, and leprosy would be treated no differently than heart disease or diabetes¹⁹. 

1 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

2 stymies   

v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的第三人称单数 )n.妨碍球( stymy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The absence of reliable transportation in the remote mountain region stymies economic development there. 这个偏远的山区没有可靠的运输通路，彻底阻碍了那里的经济发展。 来自互联网

3 advancements   

n.（级别的）晋升( advancement的名词复数 )；前进；进展；促进

参考例句：

• Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来，人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 physiologist   

n.生理学家

参考例句：

• Russian physiologist who observed conditioned salivary responses in dogs (1849-1936). （1849-1936）苏联生理学家，在狗身上观察到唾液条件反射，曾获1904年诺贝尔生理学-医学奖。
• The physiologist recently studied indicated that evening exercises beneficially. 生理学家新近研究表明，傍晚锻炼最为有益。

6 debilitate   

v. 使衰弱

参考例句：

• Stewart took over yesterday when Russell was debilitated by a stomach virus.昨天拉塞尔因肠胃病毒感染身体不适，由斯图尔特暂时接手。
• Their efforts to debilitate the political will of the Western alliance came to nought.他们试图削弱西方联盟的政治决心的努力结果等于零。

7 deform   

vt.损坏…的形状；使变形，使变丑；vi.变形

参考例句：

• Shoes that are too tight deform the feet.(穿)太紧的鞋子会使脚变形。
• Ice crystals begin to deform measurably.冰晶就产生某种程度的变形了。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

10 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

14 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

15 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

16 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

18 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

19 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。