PBS高端访谈:利比里亚和塞拉利昂封锁疫区

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And now to the devastating¹ effects of the deadly virus overseas.Jeffrey Brown has that.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: As we reported earlier, the director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, issued a dire² assessment³ today of Ebola's ravaging⁴ effects on West Africa, saying it's, unquestionably, the most severe acute public health emergency in modern times and a crisis for international peace and security.

　　As a former British foreign secretary, our next guest is no stranger to peace and security crises. David Miliband is now head of the International Rescue Committee and just returned from Liberia and Sierra Leone, the two nations hardest hit by the epidemic⁵.

　　Mr. Miliband, thank you for joining us once again.

　　As we see a first case in this country of a nurse contracting Ebola, what is the situation for health workers in Africa, including those in your organization?

　　DAVID MILIBAND, Former British Foreign Secretary: The head of the World Health Organization has used the word dire. That's clearly true. It's a very dangerous place, above all to be a health worker.

　　The death rate amongst health workers outstrips⁶ that of the civilian⁷ public population. And what we're talking about is a very virulent⁸ disease which is hard to catch in a Western situation, but in conditions of overcrowding, lack of sanitation⁹, lack of water supply and lack of electricity, it's very dangerous indeed.

　　And for health workers, they're on the front lines, because it's the direct bodily contact, an exchange of bodily fluid that makes this dangerous for them. The staff I met were obviously afraid, but they know that they face risks both at work and in their own homes, because there isn't a good enough system yet to get the infected people out of their homes, into isolation¹⁰ centers.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, speaking of systems, there's been a lot of focus of course recently on international support. What about local systems, local government? Are they able to keep up at this point?

　　DAVID MILIBAND: Well, the short answer is no.

　　I think that the disease is outstripping¹¹ the response at the moment. And while it's natural that there should be a focus on emergency treatment for those who have got the disease, it's absolutely essential that we break the chain of transmission. It's people in their homes with the disease, showing the symptoms, who are infecting their relatives and sometimes neighbors, relatives who might live in a house of 20 or 30, in the middle of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, or Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.

　　It's those conditions and the failure to get those who are suffering from the disease out of their homes that is spreading it. Just one other point to your question about the health systems in general, if you have got malaria¹² in that — in one of those two countries, you're not getting treatment.

　　If you have got basic fever, you have got — you're not getting treatment. If you have got diarrhea, you're not getting treatment, because the health systems have broken them down. And that makes the challenge both for non-governmental organizations like my own and the international system that much greater.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Is there an understanding in the public, among health workers or officials in these countries, did you sense an understanding that this will be going for we have heard 18 months, two years, this is a long struggle that will be hard to get under control?

　　DAVID MILIBAND: It is a long struggle. But you have got to be careful with long struggles, because it suggests you have got a lot of time.

　　I think what is important is that we realize that the next weeks and months — really weeks actually — will decide whether this becomes an epic¹³ of absolutely monumental proportions. After all, the Centers for Disease Control have talked about a million people being killed, whether it reaches that calamity¹⁴, or whether it's contained into the low tens of thousands.

　　And I wouldn't want people to think that just because this is a long-term war, will be a long-term fight, that somehow the short-term doesn't matter. The next few weeks and whether or not this disease spreads from the single digit¹⁵ thousands to the tens of thousands is absolutely key to its long-term course. That's why I talk about both countries being at a tipping point.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, and Margaret Chan of WHO pointed¹⁶ to political implications, the state — the potential of states actually failing. So this goes beyond a health crisis.

　　DAVID MILIBAND: I think it's very, very important to see that this is more than a health crisis.

　　The president of Sierra Leone has said that the very survival of his nation is at stake. It's a political emergency of major proportions. You don't get NGOs calling for the military to come in, but that's what's happened with Western NGOs supporting the rigor¹⁷ and the logistical capacity that comes with some of the military and the manpower that comes with the military endeavor.

　　My point is, though, we have to see this as a system that proceeds from infection, through to treatment, through to burial and disposal of bodies. Unless you deal with all parts of the chain, then you won't be able to contain the disease. And that's why it poses such a dire threat, not just to individuals, but also to the country's concerns.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee, thank you so much.

　　DAVID MILIBAND: Thank you.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

5 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。

6 outstrips   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Technology daily outstrips the ability of our institutions to cope with its fruits. 技术发展的速度超过了我们的制度所能应付其成果的程度。 来自辞典例句
• The significance of the foreign exchange market outstrips its impressive size. 外汇市场的意义超出了它给人的印象尺度。 来自互联网

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

9 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

10 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

11 outstripping   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Demand is outstripping supply. 需求快超过供给了。
• Demand is outstripping current production. 现在需求逐渐超过了生产能力。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

14 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

15 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 rigor   

n.严酷，严格，严厉

参考例句：

• Their analysis lacks rigor.他们的分析缺乏严谨性。||The crime will be treated with the full rigor of the law.这一罪行会严格依法审理。