## Task 12 - Speaking

World healthcare system for the rich
You are going to talk about healthcare systems across the world.

- First read the article.
- Form groups of three or four pupils.
- Do the exercise.
- Everyone chooses two questions.
  (Did you choose the same one? Pick another one.)
- Discuss the questions in your group.
- Report about your discussion to the rest of the class.

Read the text.

A new United Nations report has found that healthcare systems across the world are becoming more unequal. The annual World Health Report, launched on October 14th by the World Health Organization (WHO), found that the healthcare gap between rich and poor people is wider today than it was thirty years ago. Even people living in the same city experience enormous differences in the quality of medical care they have access to. The WHO said in its report: “In far too many cases, people who are well-off and generally healthier have the best access to the best care, while the poor are left to fend for themselves.” Perhaps the saddest conclusion of the report is that health care today is frequently treated as something which hospitals can make profits on. The WHO recommends a return to a more basic 'primary health care' system that many countries developed in the 1970s. Back then, the sick could visit a family doctor and get the treatment they needed. The report says healthcare no longer focuses on poorer members of society: “Health care is often delivered according to a model that concentrates on diseases, high technology, and specialist care,” it stated. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said: “Viewed against current trends, primary health care looks more and more like a smart way to get health development back on track.” She added: “We are, in effect, encouraging countries to go back to the basics.” More than 100 million people are pushed below the poverty line each year because they cannot afford healthcare. Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0810/081015-healthcare.html

Do the following exercise.

- Write five GOOD questions about healthcare in the table. Do this in pairs.
- Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.
- When you have finished, interview other students.
- Write down their answers.

| STUDENT 1 | STUDENT 2 | STUDENT 3
Q.1 |  |  |
Q.2 |  |  |
Q.3 |  |  |
Q.4 |  |  |
Q.5 |  |  |

- Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out.
- Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

You can also download here the Healthcare table , to fill it in on paper.

Read the questions.

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think when you read the headline?
3. What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘healthcare’?
4. Do you think healthcare should be free for everyone?
5. Are you surprised healthcare is becoming more unequal?
6. Are there differences in the quality of healthcare in your city?
7. What do the poor do for healthcare if they have to fend for themselves?
8. Have you ever had to fend for yourself?
9. Is it right for hospitals to make profits?
10. How is it possible the healthcare systems of the 1970s were better than those today?
11. What do you think of the idea of having a family doctor?
12. If more people are living longer, isn’t healthcare working?

## Preparation oral exam: Article

For your oral exam (next February) you have to discuss 3 news articles. You are going to practice this today.

You have read the article in task 14, so you already know what it is about. Prepare yourself for the following things:

1) give a brief summary of the article: what is it about? use the summary-sheet to help you summarize.

2) prepare yourself for questions your teacher may ask you about the article:

- what does.... mean? (make sure you can explain difficult words in English)

- what is the most interesting fact in the article, why?

- how do you feel about the article? Explain why.

- what is the aim* of the article? to entertain,inform, convince or persuade. Explain why.

- Is this article relevant* to you? Explain yourself.

3) Talk about it in pairs. Imagine it is for your oral exam: which difficult questions and questions would your teacher ask?

Words to help:

*aim = doel

*relevant = van toepassing