您现在的位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> Normal Speed News  
 





 
WHO: Infectious diseases spreading rapidly
[ 2007-08-24 11:21 ]

Download

The World Health Organization warns new and emerging infectious diseases are spreading rapidly around the world threatening the health, economies and security of all nations. This year's World Health Report says global public health security depends on international cooperation more than at any previous time in history. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from the launch of the report in Geneva.

The World Health Organization says diseases are increasingly threatening the health of people around the world. This is due to the frequency and speed with which people and cargo are moving around the planet.

The report notes airlines carry more than two billion people a year. Those people who are sick take their diseases with them and pass them on from one country to another in a matter of hours.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, says no country can shield itself from the invasion by a pathogen incubating in an airline passenger or an insect hiding in a cargo hold.

"Changes in the way humanity inhabits the planet have created multiple opportunities for new diseases to emerge, and for older diseases to resurge or become established on new continents," Chan said. "Population growth, rapid urbanization, intensive farming practices, environmental degradation, and the misuse of antibiotics have placed enormous pressure on the microbial world."

The report finds new diseases are now emerging at an unprecedented average rate of one per year. Since 1967, it says at least 39 new diseases have developed. These include HIV/AIDS, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Marburg fever and SARS.

But, for Dr. Chan, the biggest threat to people around the world is posed by a future pandemic of avian influenza, which, she says, could potentially kill millions of people.

"The sheer size of the problem, no single country or agency can handle the next pandemic single-handedly," Chan said. "And, that calls for international collaboration, global solidarity and collective defense system…But, if we implemented the international health regulation…the world stands a better chance to defend itself against a future risk coming from outbreaks. And, I am confident that with better preparedness, we will mitigate the negative health impacts from outbreaks."

Under the International Health Regulations, countries are supposed to report potentially dangerous health emergencies to the World Health Organization and to share information that could help control the disease.

The WHO report urges people to remain vigilant in managing the risks and consequences of the international spread of polio and the newly emerging strain of extensively drug-resistant TB. It also warns about new health threats linked to potential terrorist attacks, chemical incidents and radio nuclear accidents.

点击进入更多VOA常速

(来源:VOA  英语点津姗姗编辑

 

 
 
相关文章 Related Stories
 
         
 
 
 
 
 
         

 

 

 
 

48小时内最热门

     
  “我要休假”怎么说
  学两句礼貌用语
  失恋有那么痛苦吗?
  Lin Chi-ling poses during a promotional event
  日本:用牙齿启动你的iPod

本频道最新推荐

     
  女孩的心思谁能猜:Suspended from class
  《说点什么吧》:Say something anyway
  Mountain and cowboy culture meet in Jackson Hole
  Livestock disease spreads in Britain
  Working magic in the garden with beans

论坛热贴

     
  参加BBC在线竞赛 获免费伦敦游机会!
  How to say 亲友团?
  “三班倒”怎么翻译?
  这个小女孩什么意思啊?
  支票或发票的"抬头"怎么说?
  请问工卡英语怎么说