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CANCER patients across Britain are facing a life-or-death postcode lottery which decides whether they get vital drugs and treatment.
英国的癌症患者正面对一个生死攸关的癌症彩票，它将决定他们是否获得重要的药物和治疗。
New research shows some hospital trusts are spending THREE TIMES more than others on fighting cancer.
新的研究表明一些医院信贷机构在同癌症的斗争中比其他疾病多花了三倍的金钱。
It is staggering proof that WHERE you live could determine HOW LONG you live.
令人吃惊的是，有证据表明你居住的地方可能决定你的寿命。
FIND FIGURES FOR YOUR AREA HERE
找出你居住地的统计数据
Close analysis of the latest government figures reveals amazing discrepancies in NHS spending per patient from one Primary Care Trust to another. It shows how:
最新的政府分析数据揭示，英国NHS在一个人基础保健的开支到另一个人基础保健的开支的差异令人吃惊。比如：
EACH cancer sufferer in bottom-of-the-table Oxfordshire is allotted just ?,182 a year—while in top-ranking Nottingham the spending is TREBLE that at ?7,028.
排名最后的牛津郡的每位癌症患者每年的医疗费用5182英镑，而排名第一的诺丁汉郡每位癌症患者的医疗费用是前者的3倍，达到17028英镑。
PATIENTS in high-spending areas such as Birmingham or Knowsley, Liverpool, have a 20 PER CENT better chance of surviving than those in low-spending Dorset or parts of Yorkshire.
在Birmingham、Knowsley、Liverpool等医疗费用较高地区的病人的生存机会比那些医疗费用较低的地区如Dorset 或者Yorkshire郡部分地区病人的生存机会高出20个百分点。
EVEN neighbouring towns differ wildly, with Hounslow (?1,726) in the Home Counties spending almost DOUBLE Ealing's ?,650; and Solihull (?,405) in the Midlands being OUTSTRIPPED by Wolverhampton (?0,797).
即使临近的城镇差距也非常大。比如，Hounslow地区为11726英镑，Ealing地区为6650英镑，前者几乎是后者的两倍；Wolverhampton为10797英镑，也大大超过了内地Solihull 地区的6405英镑。
Vital
重要的是，
Such inequalities have forced cancer patients to travel around the country to get access to costly drugs that could extend their lives.
那种不平等使得癌症患者不得不全国跑，也便可以买到可以延长他们生命的昂贵的药物。
The government has not updated its guidance on cancer treatment since coming to power in 1997—despite an explosion of new drugs which can lengthen or even save patients' lives.
虽然那些能延长甚至挽救病人生命的药物在社会上引起了轰动，但政府自从1997年执政以来，还没有更新有关癌症治疗的指南。
Because there are no national regulations, every NHS trust decides which cancer drugs to offer and how much cash to spend.
因为国家没有规范药物，每一个NHS信贷机构自己决定给患者什么治疗药物以及要花多少钱。
That means specialists have to hunt around the country to discover which PCTs can offer the drugs to help their patients.
那就意味着专家们不得不收寻全国的药物，以便找出何种PCTs 能提供药物帮助他们的病人。
It also means there is no national strategy to get vital new drugs out to patients as fast as possible.
那也意味着没有全国性的策略让重要的新药尽可能快地到达病人手中。
One famous victim of the postcode lottery was battling mum-of-three Jane Tomlinson, who died of breast cancer in September aged 43.
癌症彩票一个著名的受害者就是Jane Tomlinson，她是三个小孩的母亲，在今年9月份死于乳腺癌，享年43岁。
After being diagnosed as a terminal case, she spent her last seven years tackling tough endurance challenges for charity—incredibly raising more than ?.7 million.
在被诊断为绝症后，她忍受着巨大的痛苦，把她最后的七年时间献身于争取慈善基金，在她的努力下，慈善基金不可思议地增加了170多万英镑。
One beneficiary was Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust in her home city. But the trust REFUSED to give Jane an expensive new drug, Lapatinab, which could have prolonged her life. A year's treatment costs ?,700.
一个得益的机构就是她家所在城市的NHS 信贷机构的Leeds 教学医院。但是该机构拒绝给Jane 一种昂贵的新药Lapatinab，这种药可以延长她的生命，但一年的治疗费用要6700英镑。
Although her medical team had decided the drug was her best option, the Leeds trust, which spends ?,391 a year per cancer patient, decided not to join in its trials.
尽管负责她治疗的医学专家小组认为这种药是她最好的选择，但是每年在每位癌症患者身上要花费9391英镑的Leeds 信贷机构，却决定不资助她参加试验。
This caused a critical three-month delay before she was eventually accepted for the trial in high-spending Nottingham. During the delay, brave Jane's health suffered a severe decline.
虽然她最后还是在医疗费用较高的诺丁汉郡加入了该试验，但在此之间，她的病情被耽误了关键的三个月。在这三个月里，坚强的Jane的健康状况遭受了严重的摧残。
Her husband Mike said: \"Jane certainly died early because of this postcode lottery.\"
她的丈夫Mike说：“由于这种癌症彩票，Jane才如此早的离开。”
Last week he held talks with Health Minister Ann Keen, who promised to issue new cancer guidelines soon.
上周他同卫生部长 Ann Keen进行了谈话，后者许诺不久将出台新的癌症指南。
But Mr Tomlinson warned: \"There has been no new guidance on this issue for a decade. We want a review of all the current drugs trials.
但是Tomlinson 先生警告说：“在这个问题上，已经十年没有新的指南了，我们想得到一份关于所有当前新药试验的评论。
\" atients need to get quicker and fairer access to new drugs. No one can argue this is the correct way to run a National Health Service.\"
病人需要尽快并通过公平的途径得到新药，没有人能反驳这是推进国家卫生服务的正确方式。”
This week the Conservatives will issue a pledge to make cancer drugs available to all as soon as they are licensed.
本周，保守党将保证，抗癌药物一经注册，将向所有患者提供。
Shadow Health Minister Mark Simmonds said: \"It's outrageous. The government's own statistics have revealed a huge postcode lottery in funding for cancer.\"
卫生部长的下属Mark Simmonds说：“政府自己的统计表明，已经发放了大量的癌症彩票，但这却是令人不能忍受的。” |
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发表于 2008-4-8 17:56:15