环球英语 — 757：Education for Health in Nigeria
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Bruce Gulland. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Most people would agree that education is important. Education can help a person read and write. Education can help a person get a good job. People with higher education can earn more money.
Voice 2
Most people know these reasons for getting an education. But often, people do not know that education is also a powerful tool for health. Knowing how to take care of your body is important. Sometimes, people do not even know simple things they can do to stay healthy. Today's Spotlight is on creating better health through education.
Voice 1
Education creates better health in many areas - family planning, preventing pregnancy, and preventing disease. For example, education can improve sanitation by learning better ways to take care of waste. For example, keeping garbage, human waste, and animals away from clean water. These methods of sanitation prevent many diseases.
Voice 2
In the northern Nigerian state of Borno, this kind of education about sanitation is making a big difference. In this area, many people are going blind. They are losing their sight because of a disease called trachoma.
Voice 1
Trachoma has infected over two million people in Nigeria. This disease is caused by bacteria. It is an eye infection spread by small insects – flies. Flies carry the bacteria from person to person.
Voice 2
But people also spread the disease. For example, people often share things like cloth towels and clothes. A person with the disease may use a towel to clean his face. If another person uses the same towel, she may also become infected. The same thing can happen if a person does not wash his hands. If an infected person touches his eye, but he does not then wash his hands, he can spread the disease to others.
Voice 1
Trachoma is a disease that affects a person slowly, over a long period of time. A person may have the disease and not know it. Trachoma creates scar tissue on a person's eye. This scar tissue grows and grows. It damages the small hairs around a person's eye - the eyelashes. It causes the eyelashes to turn in, towards the eye. These hairs then cut and scratch the eye. And this causes a trachoma victim to become blind.
Voice 2
The villagers in Borno are at high risk for this disease. This is for several reasons. First, there are a lot of cow farmers in this area of the country. The farmers keep the cows inside their houses. They use the manure from the cows to make and repair houses. This solid waste brings flies to the houses. The flies carry the disease and spread it quickly from person to person. But usually, the villagers do not know that this is how trachoma is spread.
Voice 1
Another reason this disease is common is the lack of toilets. Many people in Borno are very poor. They do not have money or tools to dig a toilet. Instead of using a toilet, they get rid of human waste in fields outside of the house. This human waste also brings many flies.
Voice 2
Finally, Borno is a very dry area of Nigeria. The villagers have to walk a long distance to get water. Because of this, they are careful not to waste water. Most water is used for cooking and drinking. People only wash hands and faces with water every few days. They do not wash away the bacteria that causes trachoma. So it is easier for them to become infected. It is also easy for them to spread the disease.
Voice 1
Lado Bukar lives in Nigeria. He told the news organization IRIN how trachoma has completely changed his life:
Voice 3
"My life has not been the same since I lost my sight to trachoma six years ago. It started when my eyes began to turn red. Then, they began to itch, so that I wanted to rub them. I thought it was a minor infection that I could treat simply, with liquid eye drops. But the problem continued for five years. I began to lose my sight. I lost my job as a private security guard, and now I live by asking people for money."
Voice 2
Helen Keller International, or HKI, is an aid organization working in Borno. It helps blind people around the world. It told IRIN,
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"Trachoma does not cause people to die immediately. Eye damage happens over time and not suddenly. Because of this, governments and health professionals do not think it is a serious problem."
Voice 2
In Nigeria, HKI is particularly concerned about trachoma. They use four methods to teach villagers how to prevent and treat the disease.
Voice 1
The first method is to change the daily lives of the villagers. They help villagers to create toilets away from homes. Toilets must be closed to keep out flies. Villagers also learn to stop using cow waste to build houses. Cows need to be kept away from homes and people. This reduces the amount of flies close to homes.
Voice 2
The second method to stop trachoma is washing. HKI builds water wells closer to villages. But they also teach villagers about the importance of washing. People need to wash their hands and faces often to keep the disease from spreading.
Voice 1
The third and fourth methods treat the disease after it starts. They are medicine and operations on the eye. Doctors may first treat trachoma with an antibiotic. This strong medicine kills the bacteria. But sometimes, the only treatment is an operation. Doctors remove the scar tissue on the eye. Then the eye can heal. HKI trains doctors and nurses to do these operations. And they also provide antibiotics to treat early cases.
Voice 2
Two of these methods depend on education. People often think that stopping a disease like trachoma is difficult. It may seem like treating a disease medically is the only way. However, in the state of Borno, villages are proving that education matters too.
Voice 1
Villagers need to know ways they can help themselves and other people stay healthy. Preventing disease is much better than treating it. The villages must work together to make these changes. Then the disease will not spread.
Voice 2
Education is a powerful tool to create better health. New and better ways to care for animals and people are building a better future in Borno, and in many other communities around the world.
Voice 1
The writer this program was Johanna Poole. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, 'Education for Health in Nigeria'.
Voice 2
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
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