英国卫报:一万亿美元能治愈所有疾病吗?(2)

Let's take just one example: healthcare. You could eradicate¹ malaria² – hell, you could attempt to cure all diseases.

我们来举个例子：医疗保健。你可以根除疟疾—该死的，你可以尝试治愈所有疾病。

Let's say our aim is to protect humanity from the next pandemic, create a new field of human biology, transform the human experience by curing, preventing or treating all known diseases.

假设我们的目标是保护人类不受下一次流行病的影响，创造人类生物学的新领域，通过治愈、预防或治疗所有已知疾病来改变人类的经历。

If it sounds like I'm getting carried away, all these ideas are projects that scientists are thinking about and even working on, but are hampered³ by lack of resources.

听起来我似乎有些忘乎所以了，这些想法都是科学家们正在思考甚至正在从事的项目，但却因为缺乏资源而受阻。

The full impact of Covid-19 is still playing out. At the time of writing, more than 2 million people have died, while hundreds of millions have had their lives disrupted or economically ruined.

新冠肺炎疫情的全面冲击仍在显现。截至本文撰写时，已有200多万人死亡，数亿人的生活被毁，经济也受到破坏。

The economic impact is at $2tn and rising. But the tragedy could have been even worse.

其经济影响达到2万亿美元，而且还在不断上升。

Unchecked, coronavirus could have caused 40 million deaths in 2020, according to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

但悲剧本可以更糟。根据世界卫生组织(WHO)的一份报告，新冠病毒如果不加以控制，2020年本会导致4000万人死亡。

The virus itself could have been more virulent⁴, and more deadly, and the miserable⁵ fact is that just because we've had this coronavirus doesn't mean we can't get another, even worse, pandemic.

这种病毒本身的毒性可能会更强，也更致命。一个悲哀的事实是，虽然新冠病毒爆发了，但这并不意味着以后不会再爆发其它哪怕更糟糕的流行病。

Covid-19 has changed the world, and its tragedy will be felt for years, but we need to use it to raise awareness⁶ of the threat of pandemic diseases.

新冠已经改变了世界，这一灾难将持续多年，而我们需要利用它来提高人们对流行病威胁的认识。

It gives us an inkling of the threat to the world from the climate crisis.

因为它，我们对气候危机给世界带来的威胁有了了解。

Our response to this pandemic shows we can adapt and change our lifestyles, and it shows that, when needed, governments can find money to spend – and particularly on public health projects.

我们对这一流行病的应对表明人类能够适应和改变自己的生活方式。同时表明政府在需要时能够找到资金用于支出，特别是在公共卫生项目上的支出。

We knew the risk posed by pandemics. The UK maintains a risk register, a catalogue and assessment⁷ of the emergencies that could befall the country, and top of the list, at the start of 2020, was an influenza⁸ pandemic.

我们知道流行病的危险。英国有一本风险登记册，对可能发生在该国的紧急情况进行了分类和评估，2020年初排名第一的是一场流感大流行。

Large-scale exercises in 2007 (code-named Winter Willow) and 2016 (Cygnus) showed what might happen to the health service, the economy and the population if a 1918-style disease took hold.

2007年和2016年的大规模演习(代号分别为“冬柳”和“天鹅座”)表明了如果有一场像1918年那样的疾病爆发时医疗服务、经济和人口将会出现的境况。

We knew what was at stake, and now we have firsthand experience.

我们知道什么正处于危险当中，我们现在有一手经验。

In 2018, one disease infected 228 million people and killed about 405,000, mostly children under five, and mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

2018年，有一种疾病感染了2.28亿人，导致约40.5万人死亡，其中大部分是5岁以下的儿童，且主要在撒哈拉以南非洲地区。

That disease, malaria, has been with us for ever. The disease has killed perhaps half of all humans who have ever lived. Malaria is the world's greatest scourge⁹, but it is preventable and curable.

疾病疟疾永远伴随着我们，它已经夺去了大约一半人类的生命。疟疾是世界上最大的祸害，但它是可以预防和治愈的。

In fact, we've done well: deaths from malaria have been halved¹⁰ in the past 20 years.

其实，我们已经做得很好了：疟疾致死人数在过去20年里减少了一半。

But still it clings on and, if we're looking for projects to stretch us and create a genuine legacy¹¹, the defeat of humanity's most deadly enemy has a certain ring to it.

不过它仍然存在。如果我们在寻找能最大限度发挥自己的能力并能创造真正遗产的项目，那么打败人类最致命的敌人是一件很有意义的事情。

1 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

2 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。

3 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

4 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。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 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？

8 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

9 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

10 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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。