2006年VOA标准英语-Aid Group: Urgent Need for New Drugs to Combat

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
30 October 2006
 
The humanitarian¹ organization, Doctors Without Borders, says new drugs to combat extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis² are urgently needed. The group is calling for the World Health Organization to take the lead in accelerating the development of new drugs to treat this potentially fatal disease. 

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In the 1980s, many experts thought tuberculosis could be eradicated³ in a matter of decades. But, TB, which had been on the decline, has come roaring back in a more dangerous form than in the past.

Health experts are worried about the emergence⁴ of what they call extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB for short. They say existing drugs are ineffective against it. 

Dr. Rowan Gillies (file photo)

The head of Doctors Without Borders, Rowan Gillies, says extremely drug-resistant TB poses a particularly grave threat in places with high HIV prevalence, because, with their weakened immune systems, HIV patients are more susceptible⁵ to TB. Public health officials say, of the 40 million people living with HIV, about one-third are infected with tuberculosis.

The World Health Organization reports, every year there are nine million new cases of TB. About two million people die. Ninety-nine percent of these cases are in the developing world.

Dr. Gillies says there has been little incentive⁶ for research and development of TB drugs.

"There has been very little research and development into tuberculosis in the last 40 or 50 years," he said. "The pipeline⁷ was almost completely closed down over the last 30 or 40 years, mainly because people with tuberculosis do not live in countries that is a reasonable market for pharmaceutical⁸ research."

Dr. Gillies says leadership from the World Health Organization to tackle this health crisis is urgently needed.

"We have been going on about this for a long time about requiring leadership from the WHO in the major health crises of today. And, especially with tuberculosis, they cannot delegate this responsibility," added Dr. Gillies. "It must take on this responsibility, especially when it comes to research and development into new tools and new medications. This is what we desperately⁹ need."

Earlier this month, health officials from the WHO and Southern Africa met to discuss ways to deal with the growing cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

The director of Doctors Without Borders' Essential Medicines program, Tido von  Schoen-Angerer, says several drugs aimed at treating extremely drug-resistant TB are under development. But, they are not likely to become available for a very long time, which he says is very worrying.

"We are calling here for today to fast-track the clinical development of those compounds in the pipeline that are already in clinical trials," said Schoen-Angerer. "We are calling on the regulatory agencies, like the [U.S.] Food and Drug Administration, or the European regulatory agencies, to guide the process, how a fast track clinical development can be done to move the most promising¹⁰ compounds to the patients as quickly as possible."

Dr. Schoen-Angerer says these new drugs should be given to TB patients as soon as they are proven safe, as happened with the HIV epidemic¹¹.

He notes the first HIV drugs were fast-tracked and made available for compassionate¹² use before they had final approval. He says the TB emergency warrants a similar process.

1 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。

2 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。

3 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

4 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

5 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

6 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

7 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

8 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

12 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。