IELTS writing task 2. Government and health education

Question: Governments around the world spend too much money on treating illnesses and diseases and not enough on health education and prevention.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

My essay:

Governments around the world are now investing a great deal in therapy for illnesses and diseases. However, some people believe that it is better to solve the problem at source by spending more on health eduction and prevention. I myself disagree with this opinion. Analyzing fundamental funtions of the government and civilians' responsibility will shed light on my point of view.

Firstly, governments, of course, should be responsible for health care system. In reality, there are many examples worldwide that huge public investment in building modern hospitals and equipping cutting-edge machines in diagnosing and treating illnesses. Only by spending on such highly-cost innovation, can the government provide strong enough treatment for fatal diseases like heart stroke, cancer,... which are now increasingly common. Thus, this makes clear that spending a great amount of money on taking care of the health of the society is one of the government's obligations.

Secondly, I believe that we, as civilians, play the most significant part in educating ourselves and preventing ourselves from absolutely avoidable diseases. I would like to cite some information that i have learned from Ted talks show on Youtube that despite governmental strategies on health education and high taxation in cigarette industry the main reasons behind serious common illnesses such as lung cancer, diabetes, heart stroke are our physical inactivity, unhealthy diets and smoking habit. These behaviours which are definitely dependant on ourselves are erading our health and leading us to the hospital in the future. That is to say, the responsibily for prevention and health promotion actually falls on our hand rather than governments.

In summary, budget distribution for treating illnesses and diseases is an inherent part of governmental operation and citizens are at the core in protecting themselves. Therefore, great public spending on medical service is compulsory and reasonable. In the future, I firmly believe that governments worldwide are likely to remain this bigger spending because illnesses and diseases may become more serious and widespread.