Tag: health and medicine

B2 – Upper Intermediate 

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that declining immunization coverage and delays in vaccination are putting children at serious risk.

Read the article to know a sharp rise in cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.

https://www.who.int/westernpacific/news/item/28-05-2025-resurgence-of-preventable-diseases-threatens-children-in-east-asia-and-the-pacific?

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “t0 miss out on something” mean? ” In the first months of 2025, countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Viet Nam have reported a sharp rise in measles cases compared with the same period last year, signalling that far too many children are missing out on life-saving vaccines.” Use it in a sentence. Give a synonym.
2. What is an “underserved community”? “It highlights the vulnerable children who are being left behind — those who haven’t received even a single dose of vaccine, living in underserved communities, missed by routine immunization and vaccination campaigns.” Use it in a sentence.
3. What does “systemic failure” mean? “The resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in East Asia and the Pacific reflects deeper, systemic failures.” Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. Did you hear that some preventable diseases are making a comeback in East Asia?
2. Can you guess how many measles cases were reported in the Philippines earlier this year?
3. What other diseases do you think the article mentioned besides measles?
4. Why do you think more kids are getting these diseases again?
5. How do you feel about the fact that fewer children are getting vaccinated nowadays?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The WHO warns that roughly one in six laboratory confirmed bacterial infections globally are now resistant to antibiotic treatments. From data collected between 2016 and 2023 across more than 100 countries, around 40 % of samples showed antibiotic resistance. It signals that investments in new antibiotics, better diagnostics and stronger stewardship of existing ones are becoming ever more critical.

Read the article to know why antibiotic resistance threatens to make common infections difficult or impossible to treat.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-27204988

Vocabulary Questions:

1. Explain what the term “post-antibiotic era” means. “Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era.” Use the term in a sentence.
2. What does “last-resort drug” mean? “One of them – carbapenem – is a so-called “last-resort” drug used to treat people with life-threatening infections such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and infections in newborns, caused by the bacteria K.pneumoniae.” Use the term in a sentence.
3. What does “wake-up call” mean here, “Ultimately, WHO’s report should be a wake-up call to governments to introduce incentives for industry to develop new, affordable antibiotics that do not rely patents and high prices and are adapted to the needs of developing countries.” Use the phrase in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever heard of antibiotic resistance before? What do you think it means?
2. Why do you think some countries are experiencing higher levels of resistance than others?
3. Do you think people are aware of the proper way to use antibiotics? Why or why not?
4. How do you feel knowing that common infections may become harder to treat in the future?
5. What steps do you think individuals or governments can take to help solve this problem?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

This article discusses a 2025 update from the EAT-Lancet Commission, reporting that adopting a more plant-based, flexitarian diet could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths per year worldwide. The diet emphasizes whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, with limited animal products.

Read the article to know why the report also highlights that nearly half of the global population currently cannot afford a healthy diet so structural changes are needed to make this more accessible.

https://www.foodandwine.com/planetary-health-diet-eat-lancet-report-2025-11826819?

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “premature death” mean? “The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission reports that adopting a more flexitarian diet could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths annually and save trillions in healthcare expenses.” Use it in a sentence.
2. What does “a sweeping study” mean? “In early October, The Lancet published the updated EAT-Lancet Commission, a report that builds on the highly popular 2019 EAT–Lancet Commission, a sweeping study that brought together scientists, nutrition experts, and environmental researchers from more than 30 countries in what they describe as the “most comprehensive global scientific evaluation of food systems to date.” ” Use it in a sentence.
3. What does “prescriptive diet” mean? “And it’s really a diet that any culture, anywhere, can adapt to their tastes and local flavors. The Planetary Health Diet isn’t a restrictive or prescriptive diet.“ Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think about the idea of a mostly plant-based diet to improve global health?
2. Would you be willing to eat less meat if it meant living a longer and healthier life?
3. What plant-based foods do you enjoy the most?
4. Do you think this kind of diet is affordable and realistic in your country?
5. How can governments or communities make healthy diets easier for people to follow?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Messy handwriting by doctors has caused worry and public discussion recently. When prescriptions or medical notes are hard to read, it can lead to serious problems like giving the wrong medicine, making mistakes in diagnosis, or slowing down treatment.

Let’s read the article to understand how Punjab and Haryana High Court responded to this issue.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0r88nrx70o

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “scrawl” mean? “The BBC has seen a copy of the judgement which includes the report and a two-page prescription which shows the doctor’s unreadable scrawl.” Use it in a sentence and give two synonyms.
2. What is the meaning of the phrase “roll out“? “Health authorities in the UK have admitted that “drug errors caused appalling levels of harm and deaths and added that roll out of electronic prescribing systems across more hospitals could reduce errors by 50%.” Use it in a sentence and give two synonyms.
3. What does “to bear fruit” mean in this context, “His campaign, seeking a complete ban on handwritten prescriptions, bore fruit when in 2016, the Medical Council of India ordered that “every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters”.? Use it in a sentence and give two synonyms.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your insights of the court’s decision telling doctors to write legibly? Do you think the same should be done in your country?
2. Share your thoughts on this: “Legible medical prescription is a fundamental right as it can make a difference between life and death.“
3. How important is clarity in medical prescriptions?
4. What do you think about including handwriting lessons in the medical school curriculum and set a two-year timeline for rolling out digitised prescriptions?
5. Are the doctors in your country also notorious for bad handwriting? Talk about it.
6. Have you ever had any issues because of the doctor’s illegible handwriting on any of your prescriptions? Share about this instance.

B2 – Upper Intermediate

As of September 30, 2025, Medicare’s expanded telehealth coverage, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to make care more accessible, is set to expire unless Congress steps in.
This change could particularly impact older adults who depend on virtual visits due to mobility issues or chronic illnesses. Some telehealth services, like mental health, will continue under separate rules, but many others may not.

Read the article to know more about why smaller clinics may not be able to keep offering virtual visits without reimbursement, which could widen gaps in access to care, especially in rural or underserved communities.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/hospitals-health-systems-stop-medicare-telehealth-appointments-amid/story?id=126300439

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “retroactive reimbursement“ in Medicare mean? “Most providers and hospital systems are taking calculated risks to continue care during this time, but long-term continuity depends on action by our telehealth champions in Washington to restore these flexibilities and ensure retroactive reimbursement.“ Use it in a sentence.
2. What does “woefully” mean? “Our health care services are regressing, falling woefully short for millions of patients in need.” Use it in a sentence. Give a synonym.
3. What does “advocacy arm” mean? “In a statement, ATA Action, the advocacy arm of the American Telemedicine Association, urged Congress to reinstate Medicare telehealth flexibilities.” Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think telehealth should stay permanently covered by Medicare? Share your thoughts.
2. Have you or someone you know tried a telehealth appointment before? How was the experience?
3. What health concerns do you think are best handled online versus in person?
4. How do you think rural communities will be affected if telehealth coverage ends?
5. Would you personally feel comfortable relying on telehealth for most of your care? Why or why not?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A new report from WHO and UNICEF finds that although over 100 countries are working to upgrade basic services in health care facilities (like water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, and reliable electricity), billions of people still receive care in facilities lacking these essentials.

Read the article to know why the authors warn that without adequate infrastructure, health workers struggle to prevent infections and deliver safe care.

https://www.who.int/news/item/24-09-2025-countries-making-unprecedented-efforts-but-billions-still-lack-basic-services-in-health-care-facilities—who-unicef-new-report-warns

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “roadmap” mean here, “While there is progress in establishing standards, conducting baseline assessments, and developing national roadmaps, billions are still served by facilities without the basics.” Use it in a sentence.
2. What does “baseline assessment” mean? “More than 80% of countries have implemented at least one national action, such as developing standards or conducting baseline assessments.” Use it in a sentence.
3. What does “scale up” mean? “National action is scaling up.” Use it in a sentence. Give a synonym.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think some hospitals and clinics still don’t have clean water or electricity?
2. How important is sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities?
3. What could happen to patients if these basic services are missing?
4. Who do you think should be responsible for improving health care facilities, governments, communities, or international groups?
5. If you were a health worker, how would you feel working in a place without proper resources?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The drug, called baxdrostat, was tested in people with treatment-resistant hypertension (high blood pressure that doesn’t respond well to existing medicines). In the trial, those taking baxdrostat plus standard medication had their systolic blood pressure fall about 9-10 mmHg more than people on placebo.

Read the article to know more about baxdrostat.

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “resistant hypertension” mean? “The results of a large clinical trial, published August 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that baxdrostat could offer an alternative for people with resistant hypertension.” Use it in a sentence.
2. What does “hyperfiltration” mean? “Kidney effects were minor and may even be beneficial, he says, because they may reduce harmful hyperfiltration.” Use it in a sentence.
3. What does “withdrawal phase” mean in a clinical trial? “The trial also included an eight-week withdrawal phase.” Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the potential benefits of baxdrostat? How about the What are the concerns and side effects?
2. Share your thoughts on this, “Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a serious condition where blood pressure is consistently too high, affecting over 1.2 billion adults globally.“
3. Why do you think it is important to keep find new hypertension medicines?
4. What are some ways people can lower their blood pressure without medicine?
5. Do you know anyone who struggles with hypertension? How is it like for them?

B2 – Upper Intermediate 

Another way experts is developing on how to utilize artificial intelligence is for it to be able to predict possible health issues years ahead of time.

Delphi-2M has been learning to spot patterns using anonymous medical records so it can foretell what comes next and when.

However, it won’t be able to say exactly when the date will be of a medical event like a heart attack or stroke. It estimates the probability of 1,231 diseases though.

Read the article about artificial intelligence’s ability to forecast people’s health issues.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2pj502ev6o

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “stack up” mean here, “The model was then tested to see if its predictions stacked up using data from other Biobank participants, and then with 1.9 million people’s medical records in Denmark.” Use the phrase in a sentence. Give a synonym or similar expression.
2. What does “cut back” mean? “This could include medicines or specific lifestyle advice – such as people likely to develop some liver disorders benefitting from cutting back their alcohol intake more than the general population.” Use the phrase in a sentence. Give a synonym or similar expression.
3. What does “scalable” mean? “This research looks to be a significant step towards scalable, interpretable, and – most importantly – ethically responsible form of predictive modelling in medicine.” Use the word in a sentence. Give a synonym or similar expression.

Discussion Questions:

1. Share your thoughts on this technology. What do you think are its promises and pitfalls?
2. Do you see this technology “following a similar path to the use of genomics in healthcare where it took a decade to go from scientists being confident in the technology to healthcare being able to use it routinely“? Why or why not?
3. What can you say about this, “The technology has learned to spot patterns in people’s medical records to calculate their risk of more than 1,000 diseases.”
4. “The researchers say it is like a weather forecast that anticipates a 70% chance of rain – but for human health.” Is this reliable enough? Share your opinion.
5. Do you think this technology can be considered an “ethically responsible form of predictive modelling in medicine“? Share your insights.

B2 – Upper Intermediate 

According to the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, NHS patients will not have the opportunity to gain access to new cutting-edge drugs due to the steep, continuous increase in drug pricing.

Read the article about UK’s NHS losing access to new innovative treatments due to failed drug pricing deals with the pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzk1p90q1o

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “outlier” mean? “Mr Kahlstrom, managing director of Novartis’ UK and Ireland operations, told the BBC’s Today programme that the UK remains an outlier and patients still lose out and I think we have to be honest about that.” Use the word in a sentence. 
2. What does “rebate rate” in healthcare mean? “However, the actual rebate rate has risen to 23.5%, which Novartis said was more than triple the 7% rate in Germany, for example.” Use the term in a sentence. 
3. What does “Qaly” mean? “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) considers medicines costing between £20,000 and £30,000 per Qaly as good value for money.” Use the term in a sentence. 

Discussion Questions:

1. Share your insights regarding this, “A body assesses whether a new drug is value for money before approving it for use on the NHS, but Novartis said its methods were outdated and made it harder for innovative drugs to be approved and launched.” Is it the same process in your country?
2. Share your opinion on these statements from Novartis boss and UK Health Secretary, “Norvartis’ [sic] UK boss Johan Kahlstrom said costs meant the UK was “largely uninvestable”, but Streeting has vowed he will not allow firms to “rip off” taxpayers.”
3. “Novartis was not considering the UK for major new investments in manufacturing, research, or advanced technology because of systemic barriers.” What might be the effect of this to the UK’s healthcare system?
4. “Another drug company, Gilead Sciences, would not submit its breast cancer drug for assessment by Nice, blaming the UK for undervaluing medicines.” Do you believe the UK is indeed undervaluing medicines? Share your thoughts.
5. What do you make of this, “The UK was under invested on medicines with “only 9% of the healthcare budget in the NHS” being spent on drugs compared to about 14% in France and 15% in Germany.”?