VOA标准英语2012--Global Leaders, Health Experts Press New Plan to Reduce Child Mortality

 

Global Leaders, Health Experts Press New Plan to Reduce Child Mortality

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged hundreds international health leaders and government representatives who met recently in Washington to redouble their efforts to combat child mortality. 

“One day, all children - wherever they are born - will have the same chance to survive,” she said.

Most delegates at the meeting already know the goal can be achieved through a variety of inexpensive and effective medical interventions¹. Anthony Lake, executive director of the U.N. children's relief agency, UNICEF, says the challenge is finding the political will to do it.

“We have a lot of work to do. Rhetoric² is one thing and results are another, and we are going to achieve it,” he said.

Lake says one new goal for the U.N. agency is to target the five countries that annually³ account for nearly half of these preventable child deaths.

“We know through new methods and through dedicated⁴ work and through work in especially disadvantaged communities that we can achieve this goal and if we can achieve it [then] we have to achieve it,” he said.

“This time it is different," said Dr. Raj Shah, administrator⁵ of the U.S. Agency for International Development. "You see the five countries that have 50 percent of all child mortality - India, Pakistan, Nigeria, DRC and Ethiopia coming - being co-hosts - making strong statements about their national strategies, commitments, resources, and score cards. You see international organizations being willing to hold themselves to account.”

Shah is hopeful the new way forward of targeting resources into the most affected⁶ countries is a better approach to reducing child mortality. 

“There is no excuse why anybody dies from malaria⁷," said Ray Chambers⁸, the U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy⁹ for Malaria. "And that’s why we turned up the heat - to eliminate deaths.”

Most deaths among children under five result from preventable illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia¹⁰, diarrhea, and from neonatal complications.

“It has to be driven by the political will of each and every country - each leader at the national level, at the province level, at the district level has to support it,” said Seth Berkley, who heads the Global Alliance for Vaccines¹¹ and Immunization (GAVI).

Berkley says success in these efforts will require taking full advantage of new diagnostic technologies and new medicines - and making health services accessible to everyone who needs them. 

1 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

2 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

3 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 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。

8 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

9 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

10 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

11 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。