介绍:
美国总统奥巴马10月29日在白宫与抗击埃博拉疫情的一线医护人员会面，并发表讲话。完整文稿请关注“英语环球NEWS Plus”10月31日微信内容。
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. And thank you, Dr. Brantly, not just for the introduction, but for your extraordinary work to help save lives in Africa and here at home.
As many of you know, I welcomed Kent and his wonderful wife Amber to the White House last month. And I was so moved by their deep faith, a faith that grounds their unwavering commitment to service, that I thought it would be a good idea to have them back. He’s gained a little weight since I last saw him. (Laughter.) So, Amber, you’ve been making sure he’s eating properly. But Keith [sic] and Amber, you’re an inspiration to me and to people around the world. And on behalf of all of us, thank you so much. Thank you. (Applause.)
As I said yesterday, we know that the best way to protect Americans from Ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source. And we’re honored to be joined today by some of the extraordinary American health workers who are on the front lines of the fight in West Africa. We just had an opportunity to meet, to talk, for me to hear about their service in truly challenging conditions.
And some of these men and women have recently returned; others are heading there shortly. But all of them have signed up to leave their homes and their loved ones to head straight into the heart of the Ebola epidemic. Like our military men and women deploying to West Africa, they do this for no other reason than their own sense of duty. Their sense of purpose. Their sense of serving a cause greater than themselves. And we need to call them what they are, which is American heroes. They deserve our gratitude, and they deserve to be treated with dignity and with respect.
Now, over the past few weeks, I’ve met and spoken with doctors and nurses who have treated Ebola patients. That includes some who’ve been diagnosed with and beaten Ebola themselves, like Kent, and like nurse Nina Pham, who I was proud to welcome to the Oval Office.
And I want to say to all the doctors and nurses out there what I’ve told the doctors and nurses here today -- each of you studied medicine because you wanted to save lives, and the world needs you more than ever. The medical professionals and public health workers serving in Africa are a shining example of what America means to the world, of what is possible when America leads.
I said this at the U.N. General Assembly -- when disease or disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the world calls us. And the reason they call us is because of the men and women like the ones who are here today. They respond with skill and professionalism and courage and dedication. And it’s because of the determination and skill and dedication and patriotism of folks like this that I’m confident we will contain and ultimately snuff out this outbreak of Ebola -- because that’s what we do.
A lot of people talk about American exceptionalism. I’m a firm believer in American exceptionalism. You know why I am? It’s because of folks like this. It’s because we don’t run and hide when there’s a problem. Because we don’t react to our fears, but instead, we respond with commonsense and skill and courage. That’s the best of our history -- not fear, not hysteria, not misinformation. We react clearly and firmly, even with others are losing their heads. That’s part of the reason why we’re effective. That’s part of the reason why people look to us. And because of the work that’s being done by folks like this and by folks who are right now, as we speak, in the three affected countries, we’re already seeing a difference.
I just had a chance to be in the Situation Room. Samantha Power, our U.N. Ambassador, has been traveling through the countries and talking to professionals and seeing what’s on the ground. And she was describing how, because of our military, we’re already setting up Ebola-treatment units ahead of schedule. We’re already setting up supply lines. And she described how a Chinese airplane was landing in facilities that we had helped organize, and Liberian and Chinese and American folks are pulling supplies off and deploying it. Because we had set up the infrastructure and gotten there early, the world is now starting to respond.
Some of the labs that we’ve set up are cutting the test to see whether somebody is positive for Ebola from what was as long as seven days not to less than a day, which means people know sooner whether they have it. They’re able to get isolated quicker. They’re less likely to spread it. If they don’t have it, they can be with their families faster, which means there’s less fear and anxiety.
Safe burial practices have doubled in Monrovia, and we know that the way folks were treating the deceased was a major contributor to spreading the disease. Because of the leadership that we’ve shown on the ground, the mood in Liberia has changed. People have a greater sense of confidence that this can be dealt with and suddenly you’re seeing Liberian nationals who are increasingly willing to work as part of the public health teams.
So we’re having not just effect by what we do directly but also by a change in mindset in the countries affected and around the globe. That’s what’s happening because of American leadership, and it is not abstract: It is people who are willing to go there at significant sacrifice to make a difference. That’s American exceptionalism. That’s what we should be proud of. That’s who we are.
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