VOA慢速英语2019 世卫组织称消灭疟疾有望 但可能尚需时日（在线收听）

WHO: Possible to Defeat Malaria, But Probably Not Soon

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活报道。

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is possible to defeat the disease malaria, although that is not likely to happen with the current methods.

世卫组织表示，人类有可能战胜疟疾，虽然凭借现有办法尚不太可能实现。

Pedro Alonso directs the United Nations agency’s global malaria program. He says the WHO wants to eradicate the disease but “with the tools we have today, it is most unlikely eradication will be achieved.”

佩德罗·阿隆索是世卫组织全球疟疾项目主任。他说，世卫组织希望消灭这种疾病，但是“凭借现有工具，几乎不可能实现消灭该疾病的目标。”

Alonso spoke last week as he presented the results of a three-year long study on the fight against the disease.

阿隆索上周发表了讲话，他介绍了一项历经3年对抗击疟疾的研究成果。

Malaria infected around 219 million people in 2017. That year about 435,000 people died from the disease. The large majority were babies and children in the poorest areas of Africa. These totals are little changed from 2016. But the numbers are smaller than the 239 million infections and 607,000 deaths reported in 2010.

2017年疟疾感染了约2.19亿人。当年大约有43.5万人死于这种疾病。其中绝大多数是非洲最贫困地区的婴幼儿。该总体数据跟2016年相比变化甚微。但是这一数字要低于2010年报告的2.39亿人感染和60.7万人死亡。

Abdourahmane Diallo is head of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. The group released a statement from him on the WHO report. It said, “Today, there are more countries without malaria than with (it), and more countries than ever have fewer than 10,000 malaria cases, putting elimination within reach.”

阿卜杜拉赫曼·迪亚洛是遏制疟疾伙伴关系的负责人。该组织公布了迪亚洛对世卫组织这份报告的声明。声明称：“今天，有更多国家没有疟疾，疟疾病例少于1万人的国家也比以往任何时候都要多，这使得消灭疟疾的目标触手可及。”

Diallo noted that in some areas, malaria cases are increasing, showing a need “to reignite and accelerate progress”.

迪亚洛指出，一些地区的疟疾病例有所上升，这表明需要“重新激活和加速这一进程。”

WHO officials have long wanted to destroy malaria. The United Nations agency first attempted a campaign against the disease in 1955 before suspending it in the 1960s. Now, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing financial support for the latest efforts.

世卫组织官员长期以来一直希望消灭疟疾。这家联合国机构于1955年首次尝试开展抗击疟疾的运动，直到上世纪60年代暂停运动。如今，比尔和梅琳达盖茨基金会正在为抗击疟疾的最新努力提供资金支持。

Tools to fight malaria

抗击疟疾的工具

There are a number of drugs available to successfully treat malaria. Sleeping under chemically-treated bed nets has proven to be effective in order to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes and infections.

目前有很多药物可以治愈疟疾。睡在经过化学处理的蚊帐里已被证实可以有效控制携带疟疾病毒的蚊虫和感染。

The drug company GSK has also developed a vaccine that has proven partially effective against malaria. The vaccine is currently used in Ghana and Malawi.

葛兰素史克制药公司也研制出了一种疫苗，经证实该疫苗对疟疾部分有效。这种疫苗目前被用在加纳和马拉维。

But the WHO’s report says these tools will not be enough to end the threat from malaria altogether. It calls for research and development of “transformative tools and knowledge” to control mosquitoes and create more effective medicines to prevent and treat the disease.

但是世卫组织的报告称，这些工具都不足以消除疟疾带来的威胁。它呼吁研发“革命性的工具和科学知识”来控制蚊虫，并创造出更有效的药物来预防和治疗这种疾病。

The report says less than 1% of international financing for health research and development now goes to developing tools to fight malaria.

该报告称，目前只有不到1%的国际卫生研发资金用于开发抗击疟疾的工具。

“Our priority...should be to establish the foundation for a successful future eradication effort while guarding against the risk of failure that would lead to the waste of huge sums of money...,” the report said.

报告称：“我们的首要任务应该是为未来成功根除工作奠定基础，同时防范会导致巨额资金浪费的失败的风险。”

Has any disease ever been eradicated?

什么疾病已被彻底消灭？

Smallpox is the only human disease to ever have been eradicated. Thanks to the success of vaccinations, the WHO declared the disease eradicated in 1980. Since then, no natural cases of smallpox have been reported.

天花是目前唯一被根除的人类疾病。得益于疫苗的成功，世卫组织在1980年宣布消灭了天花。自那以后再没报告过自然发生的天花病例。

In 1988, WHO and health partners launched an international campaign to defeat polio by 2000. But even with billions of invested dollars, the efforts have repeatedly missed eradication targets.

1988年，世卫组织和卫生合作伙伴发起了在2000年前消灭小儿麻痹症的全球行动。但是即使投入了数十亿美元，这一努力也一再错失消灭小儿麻痹症的目标。

“An effective vaccine is something we desperately need if we’re ever going to get malaria under control and we just don’t have it,” said Alister Craig of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

利物浦热带医学院的阿里斯特·克雷格表示：“如果要控制疟疾，我们就迫切需要一种有效的疫苗，我们缺的就是它。”

Craig wondered whether malaria programs would be able to raise the money needed given other competing eradication campaigns, including those for polio and guinea worm.

考虑到要和包括小儿麻痹症以及麦地那龙线虫等疾病消灭运动竞争，克雷格想知道疟疾项目是否能够筹集到所需资金。

Sian Clarke is co-director of the malaria center at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She says that since mosquitoes spread malaria by infecting people with a parasite, eradication might only be possible if there is a sense of urgency.

希恩·克拉克是伦敦卫生与热带医学院疟疾中心的联合主任。她说，由于蚊虫通过寄生虫感染人类来传播疟疾，因此只有存在紧迫感，才有可能根除这种疾病。

“The longer it takes, the more opportunity there is for the parasite to evolve,” she said. “So this is something that if it’s to be done, should be done relatively quickly.”

她说：“耗费的时间越长，寄生虫就越有机会进化。因此如果想要做到这点，就要相对较快地完成。”

And that's the Health and Lifestyle Report.

I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

eradicate - v. to eliminate or destroy something harmful

elimination - n. the act or process of removing something or someone

reignite - v. to give new life or energy to something

accelerate - v. to cause something to happen sooner or more quickly

net - n. a device that is used to catch or hold something

transformative - adj. causing or able to cause a change

foundation - n. something such as an idea that provides support for something

opportunity - n. chance