VOA慢速英语2020 黎巴嫩面临药品短缺和经济危机

Heart drugs and all kinds of other medicines have disappeared from drug stores across Lebanon. The drug shortage is the latest in a series of problems in the country, which was once a center for medical services, banking¹ and real estate.

心脏病药物和其它各种药物已经从黎巴嫩各地的药店中消失。药品短缺是该国一系列问题中最新的一种，这个国家曾经是医疗服务、银行和房地产的中心。

Rita Harb works as a nurse at a hospital in Beirut, the capital. She cannot find heart drugs for her 85-year-old grandfather.

丽塔·哈伯在首都贝鲁特的一家医院做护士。她无法给自己85岁的祖父找到心脏病药物。

She has searched Lebanese drug stores and called friends overseas. Not even doctors she knew could get the drugs from pharmacies² or other providers.

她找遍了黎巴嫩的药店，并打电话给海外朋友求助。甚至她认识的医生都没法从药店或其它渠道获取这种药物。

Harb’s story is becoming increasingly common in Lebanon.

哈伯的经历在黎巴嫩变得越来越普遍。

Officials and pharmacists say the drug shortage was made worse by panic buying and hoarding³ after an announcement by the country’s Central Bank governor. He said that with the supply of foreign money running low, the government would not be able to keep up subsidies⁴, including subsidies on drugs.

有关官员和药剂师表示，在该国央行行长宣布一个消息之后，由于恐慌性购买和囤积，使得药品短缺情况变得更加严重。该行长表示，由于外国资金供应不足，政府将无法维持包括药品在内的各种补贴。

That announcement “caused a storm, an earthquake,” said Ghassan al-Amin, head of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon.

黎巴嫩药剂师协会负责人加桑·阿明表示：“这一消息引发了一场巨大风暴、一场地震。”

Many Lebanese now search the country and beyond for necessary drugs. Older adults ask religious organizations and aid groups for help.

现在许多黎巴嫩人开始在国内外寻找必要的药物。老年人向宗教组织和援助机构寻求帮助。

In the country’s economic crisis, more than half the population has been pushed into poverty. Lebanon’s money has lost nearly 80 percent of its value. People’s savings⁵ also have dropped in value.

在该国的经济危机中，超过一半人口陷入了贫困。黎巴嫩的货币贬值了80%。人们的存款也贬值了。

Lebanon imports nearly everything, including 85 percent of its drugs.

黎巴嫩几乎所有物品依赖进口，其中包括85%的药品。

Lifting subsidies is a likely step for the government. This is expected to increase prices and inflation. Fixed⁶ at 1,500 to the U.S. dollar for many years, the Lebanese pound is now worth around 7,000 for $1 on the black market.

政府可能会取消补贴。预计这会提高物价和通胀。黎巴嫩货币兑换美元的汇率多年来一直维持在1500:1，现在黑市的汇率为7000兑1美元。

The difference between the official and black-market dollar rate has fueled smuggling⁷. In other words, subsidized Lebanese drugs were secretly taken to neighboring countries.

官方和黑市的汇率差加剧了走私活动。换句话说，有补贴的黎巴嫩药品被走私到邻国。

In the chaos⁸, six out of every 10 brand drugs have become unavailable, notes Malak Khiami, the pharmacist at Amel Association, an aid group.

援助机构阿梅尔协会的药剂师麦莱凯·希亚米指出，在这种混乱中，60%的药品已经变得不可得。

For years, around 20 importers have controlled Lebanon’s drug market. Lebanese law awards rights to some drug importers, giving them power to resist reforms and keep out competitors.

多年来，大约有20个进口商控制着黎巴嫩的药品市场。黎巴嫩法律授权了某些进口商，让他们有能力抵制改革并排斥竞争者。

The import rights are part of Lebanon’s economic order, which after the civil war’s end became controlled by militia⁹ chiefs, wealthy traders and real estate owners.

这种进口权是黎巴嫩经济秩序的一部分，内战结束后，黎巴嫩的经济秩序就由民兵首领、富商以及房产老板掌控。

As that economic order falls apart, the market for foreign drugs will likely become smaller, says Viviane Akiki, an economic reporter. “The dollar shortage will impose new solutions.”

经济记者维维安·阿吉吉表示，随着经济秩序的崩溃，外国药品的市场可能会变小。“美元短缺将会带来新的出路。”

In the Zoukaq al-Blat neighborhood of Beirut, Mahmoud Mahmoud’s pharmacy¹⁰ was quiet. Except for painkillers¹¹ and other products, the store’s shelves were empty.

在贝鲁特的Zoukaq al-Blat街区，马哈茂德·马哈茂德的药店非常安静。除了止痛药等产品，药店的货架上空空荡荡。

Mahmoud believes suppliers are holding back drugs because they are waiting for higher prices — or smuggling them out of the country. One gout drug, he said, was found in Iraq, selling for $7, more than five times its price in Lebanon.

马哈茂德认为，供应商在囤积药品等着涨价，或是将其走私到国外。他说，人们发现一种痛风药在伊拉克卖7美元，是黎巴嫩售价的5倍以上。

“They are destroying the profession,” said Mahmoud. “With the way the country is going, the profession is collapsing¹².”

马哈茂德表示：“他们正在摧毁这个行业。随着国家的发展，这个行业正在崩溃。”

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

3 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

10 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

11 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

12 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。