VOA常速英语2008年-6 Million in Mali to be Vaccinated Against Yell

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
11 April 2008

The World Health Organization (WHO) begins a weeklong campaign on Saturday to vaccinate¹ nearly six million people against yellow fever across the southern half of Mali.  This is the first time that a mass vaccination² campaign will be undertaken, using medicines from a developing country.  A Brazilian manufacturer will supply half of the needed vaccines⁴.  Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

Tens of thousands of volunteers will fan across southern Mali over the next week.  The mass campaign aims to protect millions of people from one of the world's most infectious diseases.

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease, spread to humans by infected mosquitoes.  In a telephone interview from Bamako, Mali, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman Gregory Hartl tells VOA yellow fever causes death in about 15 percent of infected people. 

"In rapidly urbanizing areas in Africa and in Latin America, we have quite a few areas which are under-vaccinated⁵ and are rapidly growing," he said.  "If yellow fever were to get into these urban areas, we could see huge outbreaks.  So, there is an imperative⁶ to vaccinate people, to get vaccination levels up to a point where there is community immunity⁷ to the disease." 

The northern part of Mali is largely desert.  So, conditions do not exist there for spreading the disease.  But, the southern part of the country is ripe for transmission of yellow fever.  

Over the next week, six million people, nearly 1 million people a day in 33 districts, will be vaccinated by local health teams and volunteers. 

Hartl says the goal is to reach 80 percent vaccination coverage⁸ for the total population.  He says this will ensure immunity against yellow fever in all the at-risk areas of Mali.

"There is no treatment per se or drug that one can take after the fact," he added.  "However, before the fact, we have a yellow fever vaccine³ which is one of the most efficient, safest vaccines that the world has for any disease.  So, this is why vaccinating⁹ people is so important for us.  Because once a person is vaccinated, you have immunity against yellow fever for at least seven years if not for life." 

Hartl says the vaccine causes no adverse¹⁰ side effects. He says WHO hopes Yellow Fever vaccination will one day become part of routine immunization programs.

Mali is the third country, after Togo and Senegal, to undertake a national preventive vaccination campaign.  WHO says other countries will follow suit as soon as sufficient vaccine is available.  Currently, 610 million people in Africa are considered to be at-risk from the disease.

1 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

2 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

3 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

4 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

5 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

7 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

10 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。