VOA标准英语2015--Ebola Linked to Higher Maternal Mortality

Ebola Linked to Higher Maternal¹ Mortality

The World Bank warns the Ebola deaths of hundreds of healthcare workers could cause maternal mortality rates to soar in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The disease has killed health workers at a higher rate than any other population group.

A World Bank report says maternal deaths could reach levels not seen in the Ebola-affected countries in 15 or 20 years. Rates could increase by 38 percent in Guinea, 74 percent in Sierra Leone and 111 percent in Liberia.

Senior Economist² and co-author of the report David Evans reacted to those figures.

“What this adds up to is between both mothers and children about 25,000 lost lives per year.”

That could happen, he said, because Ebola has taken such a toll³ on health workers.

“The Ebola epidemic⁴ has had a dramatically disproportionate impact on health workers in these three countries: Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. For example, in Sierra Leone, health workers have been 50 times more likely to contract Ebola than the rest of the population. And the numbers are similar in the other two countries,” he said.

Evans said the three countries were already fragile before Ebola struck because they had “an incredibly limited health care force.”

“Before the Ebola epidemic, Sierra Leone was fifth from the bottom globally in terms of doctors per capita. Liberia was second from the bottom. And Guinea was 28th, which is a little better, but still not a very strong health workforce⁵. So, you start from that and then you take away between five and ten percent of the healthcare workforce,” he said.

Liberia, for example, lost 10 percent of its doctors. It only had 51 prior to the outbreak.

Many have raised concerns that during the Ebola epidemic children did not receive measles⁶ vaccinations⁷, malaria⁸ and HIV/AIDS patients failed to get treatment and testing for HIV plummeted⁹.

Evans said, “One thing that we noticed is that nobody was really focusing on, specifically, this loss of health workers, which actually has a whole range of effects, including the most fundamental outcomes in the health sector¹⁰, like maternal and infant mortality.”

But The World Bank report – Healthcare Worker Mortality and the Legacy¹¹ of the Ebola Epidemic – said all is not lost. Evans said something can be done immediately to keep things from getting worse.

“In the immediate¹² run, we need to make sure that there are plenty of health workers right now that are available. And so one of the solutions to that, which the World Bank and a number of other international partners – the U.N., the African Union – have been supporting [is] the recruitment, training and deployment¹³ of foreign health workers to communities in need in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. So, about 1,300 have been deployed¹⁴ so far. So, in the short run, this is crucial.”

The senior economist said, however, a long-term solution is a necessity.

“It means investing in the local healthcare infrastructure¹⁵, making sure that doctors, nurses, midwives and community health workers are trained and that they have the protection that they need to do their jobs safely. And that they have the pay that they need so that they’re willing to stay in country. There are a lot of local professionals who want to serve their home population if they can do so in reasonable conditions and with some level of reasonable remuneration,” he said.

The World Bank report said to reach 80 percent health coverage¹⁶ -- included in the Millennium¹⁷ Development Goals --more than 43,000 doctors, nurses and midwives would need to be hired across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The World Bank Study was published in The Lancet Global Health.

1 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。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 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。

4 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。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

7 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

9 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

14 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 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。

17 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。