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【Report Calls Attention to Millions of Preterm Births】
TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
這里是VOA特別英語發展報道。
Each year millions of babies are born too soon and too small. Premature or preterm births are defined as births at less than 37 weeks.
每年，數百萬嬰兒出生過早，體型過小。早產兒是指不足37周便出生的嬰兒。
Prematurity is the leading cause of death in newborn babies. More than one-fourth of the four million newborns who die each year around the world were born too early.
早產是新生兒死亡的首要原因。每年死亡的400萬新生兒中，超過四分之一出生過早。
Preterm babies that survive can suffer a lifetime of serious health conditions. The examples include cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing problems and learning disabilities. Families and communities face emotional, physical and financial costs.
早產兒即使有幸存活，也會遭受一生嚴重的健康問題，包括大腦性麻痹，失明，聽力問題和學習能力障礙。家人和社會都面臨情感，身體和財政方面的壓力。
Christopher Howson is the vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes, a nonprofit group. His group and the World Health Organization recently published a report called "The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth."
Christopher Howson是全球非盈利機構“10美分行動”(March of Dimes)的副主席。最近，該組織和世界衛生組織發表了一篇報告，名為“全球和區域性早產數據”。
CHRISTOPHER HOWSON: "Frankly the crisis of preterm birth is under-recognized, undercounted, undervalued and underfunded. I mean, this reports shows that 13 million babies are born every year preterm, and that over a million of those babies die as a result of being born too early."
Christopher Howson：“坦白地說，早產危機未得到充分的認識，計算，評估和資助。我的意思是，這份報告顯示，每年有1300萬嬰兒早產，100萬嬰兒因早產而死亡。”
And these are just estimates; the true numbers could be even higher. More than 85 percent of preterm births happen in Africa and Asia. Africa has the highest rate, with about four million cases each year.
而這僅僅是估計的數字，真正的數字可能更高。超過85%的早產發生在非洲和亞洲。其中非洲的比率最高，每年大約有400萬例。
Chris Howson says many of the causes of preterm births are related to poverty and weak health-care systems.
Chris Howson說，許多早產的原因與貧窮和匱乏的醫療體系相關。
CHRISTOPHER HOWSON: "For example, the poor overall health and nutritional status of women. A high burden of infectious diseases. Lack of provision of family planning -- allowing a woman to decide when to start and end having children and how to space her children. And also the lack of good prenatal care programs that might identify problems early on in pregnancy."
Chris Howson：“例如，女性整體匱乏的健康和營養狀況。傳染病的影響。缺少家庭規劃條款——使女性決定什么時候開始和結束生育孩子，怎樣安置孩子。同時，缺乏產前護理項目。通過產前護理項目可以及早在懷孕初期發現問題。”
Preterm births are a problem not just in the developing world. The combined rate in the United States and Canada is the second highest in the world. Preterm birth rates in the United States have increased 36 percent in the last 25 years.
早產不僅僅是發展中國家的問題。美國和加拿大兩國的早產總數居世界第二位。在過去的25年，美國的早產率增加了36%。
This has been largely the result of two reasons. One is an increase in pregnancies among women over age 35. The other is an increase in the use of reproductive therapies. Fertility treatments can produce multiple births, which increases the risk that the babies will arrive early.
而這個問題通常是由于兩個原因。其中一個是，超過35歲女性懷孕數量增加。另外一個原因是生殖治療使用的增加。生育治療會導致多生，這會增加嬰兒早產的風險。
One of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2015 is to reduce death rates in young children by two-thirds. Chris Howson says premature births must be reduced if that goal is to be met. What is being done about this issue? That will be our subject next week.
聯合國2015年千年發展目標的其中一個目標就是，將嬰幼兒死亡率降低三分之二。Chris Howson表示，如果要達到這個目標，必須降低早產率。目前，關于這個問題采取了那些措施呢？這將是我們下周的話題。
And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.
