双语早读｜美国药物滥用对人口造成“毁灭性影响”

美国药物滥用问题已经成为一个严重的公共卫生危机。据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）10月11日报道，最新数据显示，美国滥用药物致死人数每月仍在增长。美国疾病控制与预防中心国家卫生统计中心的最新估算显示，在截至5月的12个月内，超过11.2万人死于药物过量，较前一年增加了2700多人。哥伦比亚大学流行病学教授凯瑟琳·凯斯称，2023年美国药物滥用致死人数仍然呈上升趋势，“这无疑表明药物滥用对人口健康的毁灭性影响”。

Supplies for patients at OnPoint NYC are pictured at the newly formed nonprofit that operates a overdose prevention center in the Harlem borough of New York on Feb 8, 2022. [Photo/Agencies] 

报道称，截止今年5月的12个月内，全美共有112024人因服药过量死亡，而截至2022年5月的12个月内为109261人，增幅为2.5%。

There were 112,024 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in May, compared with 109,261 in the 12-month period ending in May 2022, a 2.5% increase.

哥伦比亚大学梅尔曼公共卫生学院流行病学教授凯瑟琳·凯斯博士指出，这一增长趋势正在趋于平稳。

Dr. Katherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, noted that the increase is leveling off.

她说：“美国仍然有大量的服药过量死亡病例，比前几年高出几个数量级。但较2021年的增速有所放缓。”

“We still have an extraordinary number of overdose deaths that is orders of magnitude higher than we’ve seen in previous years,” she said. However, “the increase that we [saw] in 2021 has slowed down.”

美国疾控中心数据显示，2019年至2020年间，药物滥用致死人数激增30%，2020年至2021年间又上升了15%。

Overdose deaths spiked 30% between 2019 and 2020 and rose another 15% between 2020 and 2021, according to the CDC.

“2020年和2021年出现了异常增长，但在2022年开始趋于平缓，2023年仍没有下降趋势，但增长速度肯定在放缓。

“There were extraordinary increases in 2020 and 2021 that have started to flatten out in 2022 – now going into 2023. They’re not declining yet,” Keyes said. “But the pace of the increase is certainly slowing.

CNN称，这既是一个好消息，也预示着一场持续的公共卫生危机。

"So that is both good news and indicative of a continuing public health crisis.”

凯斯强调，药物滥用致死人数慢慢积累，2023年或将成为又一个毒品泛滥的灾难性年头。

Keyes highlights that these small accumulation of overdose deaths are still putting 2023 on track to be another devastating year amid the drug epidemic.

她说：“药物滥用致死人数仍然略高于之前的12个月。因此，这无疑表明药物滥用仍然对人口健康存在毁灭性影响。”

“It’s still slightly higher than previous 12-month periods. So, it certainly still indicates just a devastating impact on population health,” she said.

与全美总死亡人数相比，一些州，特别是西部州死亡人数急剧增加。

Certain states – particularly in the western United States – have seen steep increases in deaths in comparison with national totals.

华盛顿州增幅最高：从截至2022年5月的一年到截至今年5月的一年，增幅超过37%，从2373增至3254。

Washington had the highest increase: more than 37% from the year ending May 2022 to the year ending this May, from 2,373 to 3,254.

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来源：中国日报网英语点津

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