VOA常速英语:Continuing Effort to Reduce Maternal and Child Deaths(翻译)

Four years ago, determined to end preventable child deaths within a generation,the United States, Ethiopia and India joined UNICEF to rally the world behind the Child Survival Call to Action:a sustained, global effort to save the lives of children under the age of 5.The goal was to lower child mortality rates in the hardest-hit countries to 20 deaths per 1,000 live births by the year 2035,and to continue progress in those nations already below that rate.
四年前，决心用一代人的时间来杜绝可预防的儿童死亡，美国、埃塞俄比亚和印度加入了联合国儿童基金会，号召全世界都来支持“儿童生存呼吁行动”：一个可持续的、全球性的行动，来拯救那些不满5岁儿童的生命。这项行动的目标是要降低受灾最严重地区的儿童死亡率，以求到2035年的时候在这些地区将每千名活产婴儿的死亡数量降低到20例，而且还要在那些已经低于这一死亡率的国家继续取得进展。

Out of this grew Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths,a USAID-led initiative that identified 24 high-priority countries which together accounted for 70 percent of all child and maternal deaths,and developed for them results-oriented plans to meet these targets.And as a result, children are surviving at a rate never seen before,while fewer mothers are dying due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth.Since 2008, USAID’s efforts in the 24 priority countries have helped save the lives of 4.6 million children and 200,000 women.
为实现不断扩大的行动号召：杜绝可预防的儿童和孕产妇死亡，一个由美国国际开发署领导的机构确定了24个高优先级的国家，全球70%的儿童和孕产妇死亡案例发生在这些国家里，这个机构还为这些国家提出了一些以结果为导向的计划，以此来实现他们的目标。从结果来看，目前儿童的高生存率前所未有，而且越来越少的母亲会因为妊娠和分娩产生的综合症而死亡。自从2008年以来，美国国际开发署在这24个优先国家展开了行动，目前已经帮助拯救了460万儿童和20万妇女的生命。

Last year saw some particularly impressive results.So for example, newborn deaths dropped by 13 percent in target facilities in India.95 percent of Tanzania’s previously uNPRotected children living in areas where immunization rates have been lowest, have been vaccinated.And for the first time ever, all of the Democratic Republic of the Congo received malaria program coverage.
去年的一些成果尤其令人印象深刻。举例来说，在印度的目标机构设施里，新生儿死亡率下降了13%。在坦桑尼亚，过去有许多儿童没有受到保护、居住在疫苗接种率最低的地区，而现在这些儿童中的95%已经接种了疫苗。而对于刚果民主共和国的人来说，这是有史以来第一次所有人都在疟疾防治项目的覆盖范围之内。

And we are hoping to do even better.USAID’s drive to end preventable child and maternal deaths focuses on the poorest 40 percent of the population in priority countries,in hopes of saving the lives of 8 million mothers and children from this segment of the population by 2020.And the program will expand to another priority country—Burma.
而且我们希望能够做得更好。美国国际开发署开展了杜绝可预防儿童和孕产妇死亡的行动，该行动将目光集中在优先国家中最贫困的40%人口，希望到2020年的时候能够拯救这部分人群中800万母亲和儿童的生命。而且这一项目将扩展覆盖到另一个优先国家—缅甸。

“We’ve taken a challenge that was once too big to tackle and turned it into a solvable problem,” said USAID Administrator Gayle Smith.“We can measure our progress against achievable targets.We can apply interventions where the evidence tells us they will have the greatest impact.We’re building momentum that I’m confident will carry us over the finish line,a world where preventable maternal and child deaths are actually prevented.”
“这个问题曾经是如此的严重以致于难以解决，而现在我们已经接受了这一挑战，而且也可以解决这个问题了，”美国国际开发署署长盖尔·史密斯如是说道。“以可实现的目标为参照，我们可以评估项目的进展。我们能够在那些有证据显示干预措施能够发挥最大影响的地方进行干预。我对我们目前的势头非常自信，它将带领我们最终完成这一项目，届时可预防孕产妇和儿童的死亡将被杜绝。”