VOA标准英语2008年-Afghan Warring Factions to Stop Fighting to All

The warring factions¹ in Afghanistan say they will heed² a call by the United Nations to stop fighting so aid workers can begin a three-day polio vaccination³ campaign. The Taliban, the Afghan army and international military forces say they will halt their offensives Sunday, to coincide with International Peace Day. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
　
An Afghan vaccinator⁴, right, administers a polio vaccination during a house to house polio immunization campaign in Kabul, Afghanistan, 15 Apr 2008

Over the next three days, thousands of health workers will fan out across six volatile⁵ provinces in southern Afghanistan. Their aim is to vaccinate⁶ 1.8 million newborns and children under five against polio.

The UN-led polio immunization campaign was briefly⁷ suspended last week following the deaths of two Afghan doctors working for the World Health Organization.

A spokeswoman for W.H.O.'s Global Polio Eradication⁸ Initiative, Sona Bari, tells VOA U.N. aid agencies and local communities decided⁹ it was important to go ahead with the campaign for the sake of the children.

She says she hopes and believes the warring factions will abide¹⁰ by the U.N.'s call for a so-called "Days of Tranquility" and allow the vaccinators to do their job in safety.

"The 21st of September is an important day because it is International Peace Day and we have traditionally used this opportunity to say let us have everyone pause and help us access the children," said Bari. "After that said, I understand from our team leader there that we do expect probably slightly lower coverage¹¹ in some of those areas just so that we can respect the measures we need to take to protect our people."

Afghanistan is one of four countries with endemic polio. The others are India, Pakistan and Nigeria. The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 cases of polio in Afghanistan this year. Most occurred in Southern and Eastern regions where insurgent¹² violence is the strongest and health workers are most at risk.

Bari says Afghanistan is the closest of the four endemic countries in stopping the spread of the crippling polio virus. But she acknowledges vaccinators, so far, have been unable to reach about 100,000 children in the south because of the insecurity.

"So it is not a huge number. This is a nation with seven million children under the age of five. So that is not a significant obstacle," she added. "Afghanistan can be addressed. They are very close and with the kind of determination that we have seen this week, this is an area where they are very optimistic in terms of stopping polio transmission."

About 350,000 children a year have become paralyzed from polio since 1988, when the World Health Organization began its Global Eradication Campaign. Most of the world is now polio free.

This year, the W.H.O. reports more than 1,200 cases of polio globally, more than half of these are in Nigeria.

The World Health Organization says Nigeria is the major stumbling block in efforts to wipe this crippling disease off the face of the earth.

W.H.O. spokeswoman Bari says the last two polio immunization rounds in these Nigerian States failed to reach all the children targeted because the operations were not well planned. She says vaccinators lack proper training.

She notes some parents, who are reluctant to immunize their children fearing the vaccine could cause sickness or sterility, hide their children during these campaigns

1 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

2 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

3 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

4 vaccinator   

牛痘接种员，种痘刀

参考例句：

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

11 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。

12 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。