VOA慢速英語:世衛(wèi)組織:吸煙的傷害遠(yuǎn)比你想象的多

A single cigarette sold on a street corner may not cost a lot; however, the overall costs of smoking are huge.

街邊上賣的一根香煙可能要不了多少錢，但是吸煙的總成本是非常巨大。

First, consider the cost of human life. The World Health Organization says about 10 people die of a tobacco-linked disease every minute. That rate adds up to almost six million people dying from such diseases every year.

首先，考慮到身體健康問題。世衛(wèi)組織稱每分鐘就有一個人死于與煙草有關(guān)的疾病。每年這種疾病死亡率人口會達(dá)到將近600萬人。

The majority of these preventable deaths happen in low-income and middle-income countries. The World Bank says each of these countries has a gross national income of less than $12,746.

這種可預(yù)防死亡性疾病大多發(fā)生在低收入和中等收入國家。世界銀行表示每個這樣的國家的國民總收入低于12746美元。

Stopping smoking

For most people, stopping smoking is hard. Many began smoking as teenagers. They are used to it. Also, tobacco contains the powerful drug nicotine.

對于大多數(shù)人來說戒煙是非常困難的。許多人從青少年的時候就開始吸煙。他們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了吸煙。同時煙草中的尼古丁含量也特別多。

Studies show people who want to stop smoking can do so with different treatments. Some get help from electronic cigarettes, medicine or nicotine patches that reduce one's desire for the drug.

研究表明想要戒煙的人可以嘗試著接受一些不同的治療。有些人嘗試吸電子煙，接受藥物或者尼古丁貼片來減少想吸煙的欲望。

Dr. Nancy Rigotti works at Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States. She says she finds that medicine and counseling services together work best of all.

Nancy Rigotti博士在美國馬薩諸塞州綜合醫(yī)院工作。她說她通過實驗發(fā)現(xiàn)藥物和咨詢服務(wù)相結(jié)合能夠發(fā)揮最大效果。

Other experts and former smokers offer even more effective advice: if you are considering starting smoking, don't.

一些其他專家和戒煙成功的人給的建議更加干脆：你就不要考慮吸煙。

Illegal tobacco trade

But smoking costs more than the life of an individual. It can affect the health of an entire country.

但是吸煙存在比傷害吸煙者身體健康更加嚴(yán)重的問題。吸煙可以影響到整個國家的運行。

The World Health Organization says low-income countries depend heavily on taxes from cigarettes. They use the money, in part, to pay the costs of health care for tobacco-related diseases.

世衛(wèi)組織稱低收入國家對煙草稅依賴性特別嚴(yán)重。他們運用這筆資金作為支付治療與煙草相關(guān)疾病的醫(yī)療費用的一部分。

But the illegal trade in tobacco products is further testing the economies of low-income countries. WHO officials say the illegal trade earns about $31 billion every year.

但是煙草制品的非法貿(mào)易正進(jìn)一步檢驗著低收入國家的經(jīng)濟狀況。世衛(wèi)組織稱每年的非法貿(mào)易收入高達(dá)310億美元。

Douglas Bettcher is the director of the WHO's Department for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases. He calls the illegal trade a monster with many heads.

Douglas Bettcher是預(yù)防非傳染性疾病部主任。他稱非法煙草貿(mào)易是一種多頭怪。

He says the trade enables young people to buy cigarettes at low prices, become addicted to tobacco and suffer serious health problems. It also increases crime and reduces tax revenue.

他說非法貿(mào)易讓一些年輕人能夠以較低的價格買到香煙，從而催生沉溺煙草和遭受嚴(yán)重健康疾病困惱的問題。同時還增加了犯罪減少了稅收收入。

"It feeds the proliferation of transnational organized crime, another head of this multi-headed monster, and it drains resources, taxes, revenue from the purses of ministries of finance, governmental coffers."

非法煙草貿(mào)易會滋生跨國組織犯罪，這就是多頭怪的其中一個頭部。而且這一問題會減少和消耗財政部，政府財政稅收收入和其他收入來源。

The World Health Organization is urging United Nations member states to sign a treaty to end the illegal trade in tobacco products. Eight countries have approved the treaty. But the approval of 32 other countries is needed for it to become international law.

世衛(wèi)組織敦促聯(lián)合國成員簽訂條約來結(jié)束煙草制品的非法貿(mào)易行為。其中八個國家已經(jīng)批準(zhǔn)了這一條約。但是還需要其他32個國家的批準(zhǔn)才能成為一項國際法律。

If the treaty succeeds, governments could put people who trade illegal tobacco products in jail – another cost to countries' budgets.

如果該條約能夠成功簽訂，政府就有權(quán)利將進(jìn)行煙草非法貿(mào)易的犯罪分子縱筋監(jiān)獄，這也屬于國家預(yù)算支出。

I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

VOA's Carol Pearson and reporter Lisa Schlein wrote parts of this story. Kelly Jean Kelly adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

patches – n. pieces of material that contain a drug (the material is worn on your skin, enabling the drug to slowly enter your body over a long period of time)

non-communicable – adj. not able to be passed to another person

monster – n. a powerful thing that cannot be controlled and that causes many problems

proliferation – n. rapid increase in number or amount; spread