I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.
Botswana has a small population, less than two million, but a big problem
with AIDS. Forty percent of its people age thirty to thirty-four are infected
with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The most recent report also shows that
six percent of children are infected.
Yet, like other countries in southern Africa, Botswana does not have enough
people trained to care for H.I.V. patients. One way it gets help is through a
program with the University of Pennsylvania.
The American school sends doctors to provide training and to treat patients.
Medical students also go. The Penn Medicine Program in Botswana is based at the
Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone.
Recently an American doctor named
Richard Root went to help lead the training for two months. Doctor Root retired
a few years ago from the University of Washington in Seattle with the honor of
professor emeritus.
In the early 1970s he had helped form the infectious
disease division in the Department of Medicine at Penn. His specialty was
how the body defends itself against bacterial infections.
Doctor Root also became known internationally for his teaching skills. He
taught other doctors and helped medical schools develop teaching programs. He
was known too for his ease with patients.
Doctor Root was married 41 years to Marilyn Parletta Root. They had
grandchildren. He took care of her after she developed a progressive
neuromuscular disorder. After she died in 2001, he suffered depression.
Marilyn Root was a mental health counselor. She was known for her work with
art to help women who had been mistreated as children.
In 2004, Doctor Root remarried. Friends and family saw a new sense of purpose
in his life. He had worked for a short time in the 1970s as a visiting doctor in
Iran. Now he was excited about the chance to help AIDS patients in Africa.
On March 19, he was in a canoe on the Limpopo River in Botswana, on a
guided trip to see wildlife. All of a sudden, reports say, a crocodile pulled
him into the river. His remains were found later and sent home to Seattle last
week.
His wife of eighteen months, Rita O'Boyle, saw the attack from another boat.
They had been in Botswana just short of a month.
Doctor Richard Root was 68 years old.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Read and
listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.
professor emeritus: 榮譽退休教授
infectious disease : 傳染病
