VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Nigerian Doctor Honored for Fight Against River Blindness

[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.89]this is the Health Report in Special English. [00:07.22]Nigerian doctor Uche Amazigo [00:11.90]has received the Prince Mahidol Award [00:15.46]for outstanding efforts in public health. [00:18.77]Dr. Amazigo recently traveled to Thailand to receive the award. [00:24.99]She has been a leader in sub-Saharan Africa [00:29.49]in the fight against the disease known as river blindness. [00:34.52]The disease begins when people are bitten by the black flies [00:40.85]that spread the infection. [00:42.85]The disease is known as river blindness [00:46.68]because the flies live near fast-moving rivers and streams. [00:52.00]Tiny worms spread throughout the body. [00:56.67]This incites the body's immune system to attempt to fight the invader. [01:03.34]But the body's intense immune response can destroy the eye nerves. [01:10.56]The cause of the disease was first identified in Guatemala [01:17.57]almost 100 years ago. [01:20.28]River blindness continues to be a serious health problem [01:25.39]in many African nations and in Yemen. [01:28.68]Medical treatment lasting as long as 20 years is necessary [01:35.24]to keep victims free from the parasite that causes the disease. [01:40.06]Dr. Amazigo is a former director [01:44.29]of the World Health Organization's African Program on Onchocerciasis. [01:50.59]That is the medical name for river blindness. [01:53.96]She describes how medical workers have sometimes [01:58.60]had to struggle to deliver medicine, [02:01.16]vitamin A and bed nets, to protect against the flies. [02:05.74]"We had huge challenges in southern Sudan. [02:08.76]We started the program in 1999 -- it collapsed because of conflict. [02:14.30]We went back in 2001. It collapsed because of conflict, [02:18.23]and we're back again in 2010. Now we cross our fingers." [02:22.76]Dr. Amazigo successfully organized local treatment operations in communities. [02:29.21]Now 117,000 communities under 19 African governments treat the disease locally. [02:38.79]In 1987, the drug manufacturer Merck launched a program [02:45.82]to provide a medicine called ivermectin [02:50.43]to all those affected by the disease. [02:53.44]The company said it would provide the treatment for free [02:58.31]as long as necessary through the community directed program. [03:03.44]The infection not only causes blindness. [03:08.23]It also causes a painful skin disease. [03:12.33]Doctor Amazigo says the effects are especially difficult for women. [03:19.06]Women are often socially rejected [03:22.65]when their skin shows early signs of the disease. [03:26.47]But she says victims are more accepted now. [03:31.80]She also says health providers and governments [03:35.72]recognize community operations as very important [03:40.54]to educating more than 120 million people at risk for the disease.

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