救命疫苗的成本 The cost of life-saving vaccines

Hello, I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. And with me in the studio today is Neil.
大家好，我是罗伯。欢迎收听《六分钟英语》。今天节目的嘉宾是尼尔。
Hello, Rob.
你好，罗伯。
Today we’re going to talk about the cost of keeping people healthy. The price of life-saving vaccines has escalated – has gone up - and some of the world’s poorer countries are struggling to immunise children –
今天我们要讨论的是人们维持健康需要花费的成本。救命疫苗的价格上涨，世界上一些贫困国家在儿童免疫的道路上举步维艰，
to immunise, in other words, to prevent children from catching diseases.
儿童免疫，换句话说，就是预防儿童感染疾病。
Yes, the organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres is criticising the pharmaceutical companies which produce the vaccines.Medecins Sans Frontieres is a well-known charity – a charity is an organisation that sets up to help and raise money for people in need.
无国界医生组织指责生产疫苗的制药公司。该组织是一个著名的慈善组织——所谓慈善组织是为了帮助需要的人，并为他们筹款而设立的组织。
We’re going to talk about the cost of vaccines and you’ll learn some words you can use to discuss the topic yourself or to follow the news. But first, a question, Neil.
接下来我们谈谈疫苗的成本，你可以学到一些新单词，用来讨论相关的话题或阅读相关的新闻。首先，要考考你，尼尔。
Yes?
什么问题？
The first laboratory-developed vaccine was produced in 1879.The vaccine was against an animal disease called chicken cholera. Who was the scientist behind it? Was it…
1879年人们在实验室成功研制第一支疫苗。这只疫苗可以抵抗一种动物疫病，叫做鸡霍乱。请问，是哪位科学家成功研制了这支疫苗？
a) Alexander Fleming
a)亚历山大·弗莱明
b) Albert Sabin
b)阿尔伯特·沙宾
c) Louis Pasteur
c)路易·巴斯德
Well, I don’t know, but I’m going to guess. Probably not (a) because Fleming discovered penicillin.Probably not (c) because Pasteur did pasteurisation. I’m gonna go for (b).
我不知道，我猜一猜吧。应该不是(a)因为弗莱明发明了青霉素。应该也不是(c)，因为巴斯德发明的是巴氏灭菌法。那我选(b)。
Well, we’ll have the answer to that question at the end of the programme.Now, let’s talk about the controversy behind these life-saving vaccines. On one side we have a charity and on the other side, the drug companies.
好的，节目最后我们再公布正确答案。现在，我们来谈谈那些救命疫苗背后的争论。一方是慈善组织，一方是制药公司。
Which vaccines are they talking about?
他们谈论的是什么疫苗呢？
Well, they’re talking about vaccines which prevent diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria and polio.According to Medecins Sans Frontieres, between 2001 and 2014 there was a 68-fold increase in vaccine prices.
他们谈论的是预防类的疫苗，例如预防结核病、麻疹、白喉和小儿麻痹。据无国界医生组织称，疫苗价格在2001到2014年间上涨了68倍。
Well, that is a lot!
上涨了好多啊！
It certainly is. And the group says that there are particular cases in which rich western countries are actually getting vaccines at a cheaper rate than poorer countries.That’s what Medecins Sans Frontieres says, and they’re asking for more transparency around prices.
确实。该组织还称，发达的西方国家购得疫苗的价格比贫困国家低。基于此，无国界医生组织要求更透明的疫苗价格。
Transparency means clarity, something done in an open way, without secrets.
透明度是指清楚明确，以公开的方式行事，没有隐藏的秘密。
Yes, they want to know the cost of the vaccines. Let’s hear what Rohit Malpani from Medecins Sans Frontieres has to say.See if you can spot the expression Malpani uses to describe how high the price of the vaccine is for some countries.
是的，他们想知道疫苗的成本。让我们听一听无国界医生组织的罗希特·迈尔潘尼是怎么说的。看你是否能听出迈尔潘尼用来形容一些国家疫苗价格之高的那个词。
This is all a black box. It’s a black box in terms of the price they are charging to most countries around the world so they’re often charging prices that are wildly out of proportion with their ability to pay.
不知道成本是多少。根据他们向大多数国家收取的价钱，无法推算成本，所以他们的要价经常与他们的纳税能力不成比例。
You have Morocco and Tunisia that now are paying higher prices than France for the pneumococcal vaccine.
摩纳哥和突尼斯购买肺炎球菌菌苗支付的价钱要比法国高不少。
We also simply do not know the cost of production and if GlaxoSmithKline says that it costs more than we are saying it does,
如果葛兰素史克表示成本比我们说的多，
then they should simply submit to some sort of audit to ensure that we can verify the cost of production.
那么他们应当递交一份简单的审核表，来证实其生产成本与其描述一致。
The expression which describes the relationship between the price asked and the ability to pay is ‘out of proportion’.It means it’s unrealistic or exaggerated.
他用来描述要价和纳税能力之间关系的词是“不成比例”，意思是不切实际或言过其实。
And Malpani from Medecins Sans Frontieres says that Morocco and Tunisia are paying more than France – a much richer country – for a particular vaccine.
迈尔潘尼说摩纳哥和突尼斯购买某种疫苗的价格比更为发达的法国还高。
And his organisation wants transparency. They want to be able to verify the cost of production.To verify means to confirm that something is really true and they want the drug company to confirm that the cost to produce the vaccines is really as high as they say it is.
他所在的无国界医生组织希望制药公司疫苗成本方面的信息更加公开透明。他们想要核实疫苗的生产成本。核实是指证实某件事是真实的，他们希望制药公司证明其所称的制作疫苗的成本属实。
Well, at this point, we have to hear what the companies say.
关于这一点，我们得听听那些制药公司怎么说。
Yes, because they argue that they already sell these vaccines at a discount, in other words, at a reduced price.
恩，制药公司声称已经以折扣价出售疫苗，换句话说，减价出售。
Yes, they do. GlaxoSmithKline says that around 80% of all their vaccines, including the one mentioned by Malpani, are provided to developing countries at a substantial discount.And the company adds that the pneumococcal vaccine is one of the most complex they’ve ever manufactured because it combines 10 vaccines in one.
葛兰素史克说，他们生产的疫苗中80% 都以相当大的折扣卖给了发展中国家，包括迈尔潘尼提及的那支疫苗。公司还补充道肺炎球菌疫苗是他们生产的最为复杂的疫苗，因为要将十种疫苗合成一种。
Yes. On one hand, vaccines take many years of research and these companies want to make a profit,which means to sell the product for more than it costs to make it.
一方面，疫苗研究花费很多年，而且公司需要盈利，也就意味着售价要高于成本价。
But on the other hand, the lack of vaccines can kill people and it’s really very sad to see people dying of diseases which can be prevented. Some vaccines may be very affordable for a person in a rich country…
但是另一方面，很多人因缺少疫苗而死亡，看到人们死于可以预防的疾病，实在是令人痛心。在发达国家，一些疫苗每个人都付得起。
… but they might cost a fortune to someone in a poor country.
但是在贫困国家，人们要花大价钱才能买到疫苗。
This is a very complex problem and I’m sure we will talk about this again in the future. But now, let’s go back to the quiz question, Neil.
这是一个很复杂的问题。之后我们会再次谈及这个话题。现在，让我们回到之前的问题。
You asked about the first vaccine developed in a laboratory…
你说在实验室中研制的第一支疫苗…
Yes, I did. The first laboratory-developed vaccine was produced in 1879. It was a vaccine for the animal disease called chicken cholera.I wanted to know the name of the scientist who developed it. Was it Alexander Fleming, Albert Sabin or Louis Pasteur?
是的。1879年人们在实验室成功研制第一支疫苗。这只疫苗可以抵抗一种动物疫病，叫做鸡霍乱。问题是哪位科学家成功研制了这支疫苗？是亚历山大·弗莱明？阿尔伯特·沙宾？还是路易·巴斯德？
And I said (b) Albert Sabin.
我选的是(b)阿尔伯特·沙宾。
And you were wrong! The correct answer is (C) Louis Pasteur, who was a French microbiologist.Now, Neil, the option you chose, the American scientist Albert Sabin, in fact developed an oral vaccine against polio in the 1950s – still very useful.And Alexander Fleming from Scotland did indeed discover penicillin, as you said.
很抱歉，你答错了。正确答案是(C) 路易·巴斯德，他是一位法国微生物学家。你选择的阿尔伯特·沙宾是一位美国科学家，他在二十世纪五十年代发明了预防小儿麻痹的口服疫苗，现在仍十分有效。苏格兰的亚历山大·弗莱明，如你所说，发明了青霉素。
Well, that is interesting and I’m a bit disappointed that I got it wrong actually.
很有意思的问题。老实说，答错了有点失望。
Okay. Well, that’s it for this programme. Now let’s remember some of the words we used today, Neil.
好了，今天的节目就到这，我们再回忆一下今天提及的单词。
to immunise
使免疫
Charity
慈善组织
Transparency
透明度
out of proportion
不成比例
to verify
核实
Discount
折扣
to make a profit
盈利，赚钱
Thank you. That’s it for today. Do log on to www.bbclearningenglish.com to find more 6 Minute English programmes. Until next time, goodbye!
谢谢你的到来。今天的节目就到这。大家可以登录www.bbclearningenglish.com获取更多《六分钟英语》节目。下次节目再会！
Goodbye!
再见！