VOA标准英语2008年-African Food Price Hikes Spark Concerns About C

By Ricci Shryock
Ouagadougou
01 May 2008

Health leaders warn that malnutrition¹ will soon increase among children in West Africa. As a World Health Organization-led conference held in Burkina Faso this week addresses primary healthcare in Africa, some officials say rising food prices will worsen an already prevalent problem of nutrition for African children. Ricci Shryock reports from Ouagadougou.

Twenty-eight percent of children in West and Central Africa are severely² malnourished and UNICEF's Regional Director for the area, Esther Guluma, warns the problem is about to get worse.

"The rising prices of food are having a very serious impact on the nutritional³ status of children," she said.

More than 500 health leaders from around the world gathered in Burkina Faso this week for the International Conference on Primary Health Care Systems in Africa. At the conference, some officials said they were concerned about the impact that rising food prices would have on the health of Africa's children.

Guluma says governments must take actions.

"The commitment that we would like to see from governments that are here is, number one recognition that primary health care systems have to take into account the current rising prices and the crisis that may happen as a result and that they are committed to put in place a plan to assist their populations," she said.

At the conclusion of the three-day conference, African ministers of health and U.N. officials had agreed to the Ouagadougou Declaration to address improvements in African healthcare. The declaration urges governments to update national health policies and specifically address communicable diseases such as malaria⁴, as well as child health.

Guluma adds that food availability and malaria are closely linked.

"Malnutrition combined with other diseases is the biggest cause of child death in our region," she said.

As the Health Minister for South Africa, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang also attended the conference. She says it is necessary to go beyond food production. They must also consider food quality.

"Important is to make sure that yes indeed there is food security. But then once you have the food on the table what do you do with it? It's not just the quantity, but it's also the quality," said Tshabalala-Msimang.

Next week West African ministers of trade and finance will convene⁵ in Abuja, Nigeria for an Economic Community of West African States-hosted meeting to discuss steps they can take to tackle the soaring food prices.

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

4 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。

5 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。