Development and health

What do you need to know?

By the end of the unit you should know the following:

• That development is measured by social, economic and composite methods

• Recognise that differences in levels of development exist between and within countries.

• Understand the reasons why these differences in development exist.

• Understand the human and physical factors involved in the levels of health and the incidence of disease

• Understand one water related disease• Strategies for improving health and the control of disease

and their impact.

Development

What is development?

• Development is any improvement in the standard of living of people within a country.

Dividing the world

• The world can be divided up in a number of ways. (geographically, politically, climate)

• In this unit we will look at the division due to development stages

• There are two categories of development: - More economically developed countries (MEDC)

- Less economically developed countries (LEDC)

MEDC

• This includes countries such as Britain, America, Japan and many more

• These countries are seen to have a better standard of living for their population.

• They have a developed industry base. With many industries in the tertiary and quaternary sectors

• They have a high human development index

LEDC• This includes countries such as brazil, Ethiopia,

Bangladesh and many more.

• They have a relatively low standard of living

• They tend to have a underdeveloped industrial base

• They have moderate to low Human development index.

• Often widespread poverty in the country

Measuring development

• There is a number of ways in which to measure development.

• You can use:

- Social indicators

- Economic indicators

- Combined indicators

What are economic indicators?

• These are indicators that measure the wealth and industrialization of a country

Economic indicators

Gross National Product (GNP)

This is the value of all goods produced, services provided in a country and services earned abroad in one year.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

This is the value of all goods produced, services provided in a country in a year.

GNP/GDP per capita = Per person

People employed in agriculture

A country where most people work in agriculture has very little industry. This means the wealth of the country is limited

Energy per person

The energy used in a country divided by the number of people in that country. Countries with a higher standard of living and industries will use more energy.

The world divided by Gross Domestic product

Notice how America and Europe dominate this map, along with Japan (yes – that huge dark-green island on the right really is Japan), while Africa dwindles almost to invisibility.

Problems with economic indicators

• Wealth may not always be evenly spread

• Wealth does not equate to quality of life

• Indicators are an average for a country

• One indicator doesn’t give enough information

• Wealth needs to be taken in respect of what can be bought for that money.

What are social indicators?

• Social indicators show how a country uses its wealth to improve the lives of its people.

Social indicatorsDeath rate

The number of people who die for every 1000 people who live in the country.

Adult literacy

The number of adults who can read in every 1000 of the population

Calories per person

The average number of calories consumed by each person per day.

Life expectancy

The number of years on average that people live.

Other indicators include:

- Protein per person per day

- Population per doctor

- Infant mortality

The world divided by child mortality

Notice how the African continent becomes inflated while the USA shrinks.

Problems with social indicators

• One indicator does not provide enough information

• Indicators disguise variations

• Indicators do not take in to account specific circumstances

Quick questions

• Why do you think that calories per person per day might be misleading?

• What might death rate hide to give a misleading figure?

Combined indicators

• There are two main combined indicators

-Physical quality of life indicator (PQLI)

- Human development index (HDI)

Physical quality of life indicator

• This is a combination of three social factors:

- Life expectancy

- Infant mortality

- Adult literacy

This gives a number from 0- 100

A PQLI of over 77 is consider good

Human development indicator

• This is a combination of social and economic factors:

- Life expectancy - Cost of living - Adult literacy - School enrolment - GNP per capita

This produces an index from 0 – 1

A number of 0.8 or above is considered developed

The world divided by HDI

Inequalities through out he world

• The world is divided in to developed and developing regions.

• This done my using social, economic and combined factors to measure the level of development.

• MEDCs and LEDCs are not all equal

• Within MEDCs some will have greater GNP than others

• Within LEDCs infant mortality will be higher in some than others.

Reasons for inequalities

• There are a number of reasons why development is uneven throughout the world.

- Trade - Population growth - Industrialisation - Political turmoil - Physical factors

Trade

• Exchanging one thing for another

• This can lead to a trade surplus or deficit

• This can be complicated by trade barriers

Population growth

• This can cause problems as a developing nation cannot provide jobs, houses and medical facilities for the population.

• This is because the economy is not strong enough to cope with this change.

Industrialisation

• A move to become an industrial society

• Greater capital accumulation

• The role of Multi National Companies (MNC)

• Case study: South Korea – a newly industrialised country (NIC)

Political turmoil

• Unstable governments can lead to civil war which restricts development

• Corruption in governments means money is not directed to where it should go.

• Case study: Zimbabwe

Physical factors

• Every country has a different location

• Amount of natural resources in a country varies

• The climate in every country can vary.