VOA常速英语:新冠疫情可能引发疟疾、结核、艾滋病死亡人数骤升

Sibongile Zulu is among the 7.7 million South Africans who are HIV positive. She takes a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs to suppress the virus. When South Africa imposed a coronavirus lockdown in March, Zulu lost her job. Weeks later her local clinic began to run short of some medication. I think for two months, I was using only one that I was supposed to use two. And if I don't use both of them, it's a big risk and I can get sick. Across the world doctors say the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, will likely hamper the fight against other killer diseases like tuberculosis or TB, malaria and HIV. Epidemiologist Dr. Saleem Sabdul Karim advises the South African government on the coronavirus, and has led research into other infectious diseases in Africa. People are scared to go to health care services. We have seen a decline in the number of tests for tuberculosis. We've seen a decline in the number of patients coming in to get their medications. So that's of deep concern because it could undo the years of work, that it has taken us to get to this point.

TB cases and deaths have fallen year on year in South Africa and many other countries. But it remains one of the world's biggest killers with an estimated 1.5 million deaths last year. We know there's a 50% decrease in TB testing in South Africa at the moment. So people are not able to go to the clinic or go to hospitals and so on. And they're not being diagnosed with TB, and this means that they can then transmit TB further to other people. So it's just going to sort of snowball. Malaria deaths in Africa could double in 2020, warn researchers from Imperial College London, unless disrupted services such as mosquito net distribution and malaria treatments are maintained. Despite the dire forecasts, Karim says there is opportunity. The opportunity to look at integration, integration between Covid, HIV, TB and other conditions. So that when we are investing for our coronavirus vigilance, we are benefiting not just the Covid epidemic, but the epidemics of HIV and TB as well. The global community must look at the bigger picture, says Mcquaid. We start to lose gains that we've been making in recent years, hard-fought gains that we've made. And we could be pushed back five, ten, twenty years even. Huge resources have been dedicated to the fight against the coronavirus. Doctors say its vital that other deadly diseases are not neglected.

Henry Ridgwell for VOA news London