VOA常速英语2007-Maternal Health Conference Opens in London

By Tendai Maphosa
London
18 October 2007

A three-day conference on ways to reduce preventable deaths of newborns and women during pregnancy¹ has opened in London. Tendai Maphosa has more for VOA from London.

 

The Women Deliver Conference has attracted about 2,000 delegates, including politicians from Africa and Asia, heads of U.N. agencies, health professionals, human rights activists², and faith groups from 75 countries.

 

The conference kicks off amid concern that Millennium³ Development Goal Five, which aims to improve maternal⁴ health, may not be achieved. The target set by the United Nations is to reduce maternal mortality by 75 percent between 1990 and 2015.

The London conference marks the anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Initiative launched in Kenya in 1987. Addressing delegates during the opening of the conference the director of Family Care International, Jill Sheffield, said little progress has been made since then.

"We know what to do to stop these needless deaths, it just is not happening fast enough," said Sheffield. "A woman dies needlessly every minute of every day simply related to her being pregnant. That is about the same rate as it was 20 years ago in 1987. This is outrageous⁵, it is unacceptable, and we are not going to have this anymore."

 

During the past 20 years, 20 million women have died of avoidable complications such as high blood pressure or excessive bleeding during childbirth. Often the baby dies too or does not survive the next few years without a mother.

In addition, tens of thousands of pregnant women die in back-street abortions⁷ in countries where contraception is not readily available and abortion⁶ is heavily restricted or banned.

 

The majority of the more than one half million maternal deaths in 2005 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, called for leaders of the world's poorest countries to make sure that health services reflect the needs of women.

"To improve women's' health we must improve their rights, the right to education, the right to freedom from the threat of violence and the right to make informed choices about their health and about their families' health," said Alexander. "That means women designing the services that they also use, women contributing to the political agenda and indeed setting the agenda and leading the agenda."

 

Alexander announced a $200 million British government pledge to help prevent unwanted pregnancies⁸ and make childbirth safer. He told the conference the money will help the U.N. Population Fund support governments in Africa and South Asia in providing more condoms, contraceptive pills, and advice on sexual health to poor girls, women, and men.

 

Though the problem is worse in poor countries, Family Care International's Sheffield noted⁹ that disparities exist between the rich and poor in all countries. One in seven Afghan women will die during pregnancy, one in 2,500 in the United States and one in 30,000 in Sweden. She said the deaths are avoidable and what is lacking is the political will to do the right thing for women and the world.

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

4 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

5 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

8 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。