BBC 6分钟英语 The cost of life-saving vaccines

English from

BBC, learning English. Hello. I'm Rob.

Welcome to Six Minute English. And with me in the studio today is Neil Oh.

Rob. Today, we're going to talk about the cost of keeping people healthy.

The price of life saving vaccines has escalated.

It's gone up, and some of the world's poorer countries are struggling to immunize children, to remain eyes, in other

words, to prevent children from catching diseases.

Yes, the organization Medicine San Frontier is criticizing the pharmaceutical companies which produce the vaccines.

Medicine San Frontier is a well known charity.

A charity is an organization set up to help and raise money for people in need.

We're going to talk about the cost of vaccines, and you'll learn some words you can use to discuss the topic yourself or to follow the news.

But 1st a questionnail Yes, the 1st Laboratory developed a vaccine was produced in 1879.

The vaccine was against an animal disease called chicken cholera.

Who was the scientist behind it?

Was it a Alexander Fleming? B Albert Sabin?

Or see, louis Pasta? Well, I don't know, but I'm going to guess, probably not a, because Fleming discovered penicillin.

Probably not. See, cause Pastor did pasteurization.

Are you gonna go for b Okay, it sounds like you know your vaccines.

Well, we'll have the answer to that question at the end of the program.

Now, let's talk about the controversy behind these life saving vaccines.

On one side, we have a charity, and on the other side, the drug companies.

Which vaccines are they talking about?

Well, they're talking about vaccines which prevent diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, diptheria and polio.

According to Medicine of some frontier, between 2001 and 2014, there was a 68 fold increase in vaccine prices.

Well, that is a lot. It certainly is.

And the group says that there are particular cases in which rich Western countries are actually getting vaccines at a cheaper rate than poorer countries.

That's what Medicine San Frontier says.

And they're asking for more transparency around prices.

Transparency means clarity, something done in an open way, without secrets.

Yes, they want to know the cost of the vaccines.

Let's hear what roe Hit Malpani from Medicine some Frontier, has to say.

See if you can spot the expression Malpani uses to describe how high the price of the vaccine is for some countries.

This is all a black box.

It's a black box in terms of the price they're charging to most countries around the world.

So they are often charging prices that are wildly out of proportion with their ability to pay.

You have Morocco in Tunisia now that are paying higher prices than France for the neimococcal vaccine.

We also simply do not know the cost of production, and if Glaxosmith Kline says that it costs more than what we are saying it does, then they should simply submit to some sort of audit to ensure that we can verify the cost of production.

The expression, which describes the relationship between the price asked and the ability to pay, is out of proportion.

It means it's unrealistic or exaggerated.

And Malpani from Medicine San Frontier says that Morocco and Tunisia are paying more than France, a much richer country, for a particular vaccine.

And his organization wants transparency. They want to be able to verify the cost of production, to verify means to confirm that something is really true.

And they want the drug company to confirm that the cost to produce the vaccines is really as high as they say it is.

Well, at this point, we have to hear what the companies say, yes, because they argue that they already sell the vaccines at a discount, in other words, at a reduced price.

Yes, they do. Glaxo Smith Kline says that around 80% of all their vaccines, including the one mentioned by Malpani, are provided to developing countries at a substantial discount.

And the company adds that the numeroccal vaccine is one of the most complex they've ever manufactured because it combines ten vaccines in one.

Yes. On the one hand, vaccines take many years of research, and these companies want to make a profit, which means to sell the product for more than it costs to make it.

But on the other hand, the lack of vaccines can kill people, and it's really very sad to see people dying of diseases which can be prevented.

Some vaccines may be very affordable for a person in a rich country, but they might cost a fortune to someone in a poor country.

This is a very complex problem, and I'm sure we'll talk about this again in the future.

But now, let's go back to the quiz Questionnaill you asked about the 1st vaccine developed in a laboratory?

Yes, I did. The 1st laboratory developed vaccine was produced in 1879.

It was a vaccine for the animal disease called chicken cholera.

I wanted to know the name of the scientist who developed it.

Was it Alexander Fleming, albert Sabin, or Louis Pastor?

And I said, thee Albert Sabon, and you were wrong.

The correct answer is c Louis Pasta, who was a French microbiologist.

Now near the option you chose The American scientist Albert Sabin, in fact, developed an oral vaccine against polio in the 1950s, still very useful.

And Alexander Fleming from Scotland did indeed discover penicillin, as you said.

Well, that is interesting,

and I'm a bit disappointed that I got it wrong, actually.

OK, well, that's it for this program.

Now, let's remember some of the words we use today, neil to immunize charity, transparency out of proportion, to verify, discount to make a profit.

Thank you. That's it for today.

Do log on to bbc learning english dot com to find more six minute English programs.

Until next time. Good Bye. Good Bye.

扫码查看听力音频