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In South Africa, a former passenger train now serves as a traveling medical center to provide health services to people in need.
在南非，一列曾经的客运列车现在变成了一个移动医疗中心，为有需要的人提供医疗服务。
The train is known as Phelophepa. In the Sesotho language, this means “good, clean, health.”
这列火车被称为“健康列车”。在塞索托语中，这意味着“良好、清洁、健康”。
It travels across South Africa to provide medical care to a mix of patients for whom usual heath care is unavailable or rare.
它穿越南非，为那些通常无法获得或很少获得医疗保健的各种患者提供医疗服务。
The train has been operating since South Africa’s government ended its racist system of apartheid in the early 1990s.
自20世纪90年代初，南非政府结束种族隔离制度以来，这趟列车一直在运营。
The train carries medical professionals around the country, even to the most rural villages.
火车将医疗专业人员运往全国各地，甚至是最偏远的村庄。
Officials say the service helps at least 375,000 South Africans each year.
官员们表示，这项服务每年至少帮助37.5万名南非人。
The care patients receive is separate from the government’s main public health care system.
患者接受的护理与政府的主要公共医疗保健系统是分开的。
That system serves an estimated 84 percent of the population.
该系统为大约84%的人口提供服务。
But government insurance plans are too costly for many people to pay for.
但是政府保险计划对许多人来说太昂贵了，他们无法支付。
South Africa is also dealing with an unemployment rate of more than 32 percent.
南非还要应对超过32%的失业率。
The government has taken some steps to help get more of the nation’s population covered by public health insurance plans.
政府已经采取了一些措施，以帮助更多的国民纳入公共医疗保险计划的覆盖范围。
One of those came in May, when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law creating the country’s National Health Insurance Act.
其中一项是在5月，当时南非总统西里尔·拉马福萨签署了一项法律，创建了该国的《国民健康保险法》。
The law aims to provide financial assistance to millions of South Africans who do not currently have health insurance.
该法律旨在为数百万目前没有医疗保险的南非人提供财政援助。
The program gets support from private insurers. However, the National Health Insurance Act has been hotly debated.
该计划得到了私人保险公司的支持。然而，《国民健康保险法》一直备受热议。
Critics have said government officials have not yet said how much the program will cost or where that money will come from.
批评人士表示，政府官员尚未说明该计划将花费多少资金，也没有说明这些资金将来自何处。
Economists have predicted the government will have to raise taxes to finance the law.
经济学家们预测，政府将不得不提高税收，以资助这项法律。
Critics have urged the government to instead fix the country’s public healthcare system.
批评人士敦促政府转而修复该国的公共医疗保健系统。
Thethiwe Mahlangu has used the health train and recently spoke to The Associated Press about her experiences.
Thethiwe Mahlangu已经用过了健康列车，最近她向美联社讲述了自己的经历。
She said local health clinics in her area – in the township of Tembisa, east of Johannesburg – cannot effectively serve her needs.
她说她所在地区的当地卫生诊所——位于约翰内斯堡东部的坦比萨镇——无法有效地满足她的需求。
“There we are not treated well,” Mahlangu said. “We are made to sit in the sun for long periods. You can sit there from 7 a.m. until around 4 p.m. when the clinic closes.”
“在那里我们没有得到很好的治疗，”Mahlangu说。“我们被迫长时间坐在阳光下。你可能从早上7点一直等到下午4点左右诊所关门。”
She noted that when people ask about such issues, the medical workers say they simply need bigger hospitals.
她指出，当人们问及此类问题时，医务人员表示他们需要更大的医院。
When the train began in 1994, many Black people in South Africa still lived in rural villages with little availability to health centers.
当火车于1994年开始运行时，南非的许多黑人仍然生活在农村村庄，几乎无法获得医疗中心的服务。
The time was a period of great change in South Africa.
那个时期是南非发生巨大变革的一个阶段。
Today, the trains assist the growing populations of the capital, Pretoria, as well as Johannesburg, the country's economic center.
如今，火车为首都比勒陀利亚以及该国的经济中心约翰内斯堡不断增长的人口提供服务。
Shemona Kendiah is the train's manager.
谢莫纳·肯迪亚是这趟列车的经理。
She told the AP trains can remain in one place for multiple days to see as many people as possible.
她告诉美联社，火车可以在一个地方停留数天，以便尽可能多地接诊人们。
Those going to major population centers – like Tembisa, for example – can end up staying up to two weeks.
那些前往主要人口中心的人——比如坦比萨——最终可能会停留长达两周。
“The major metros are really struggling,” Kendiah said. Mahlangu’s trip resulted in her getting a new pair of glasses.
“主要的大都市确实在苦苦挣扎，”肯迪亚说。Mahlangu的旅行让她得到了一副新眼镜。
She was among hundreds of people who received health services from the train on its latest stop.
她是在火车最近一站接受医疗服务的数百人之一。
Another patient, Jane Mabuza, got a full health examination as well as services for her teeth.
另一位患者简·马布扎接受了全面的健康检查以及牙齿治疗服务。
She said she hopes the train will be able to reach many more people in other areas.
她说她希望这列火车能够到达其他地区的更多人。
“Here on the train you never hear that anything has been finished,” Mabuza added.
“在这列火车上，你永远不会听到什么事情已经完成了，”马布扎补充道。
I’m Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。
