Health is of special value to individuals and communities at large. Good health is of great

As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘health’ is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948). The health and wellbeing of individuals is generally determined by their circumstances and environment, a phenomenon referred to as the social determinants of health. WHO describes the social determinants of health as:

Health – “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organisation, 2017).

But over the past few decades, the definititon and concept of health has evolved to encompass more elements than just the physical well-being of a person. This is partly attributed to various researches and studies that have taken place around the world in the last 60 years. Already in 1948, the World Health Organization declared that health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (World Health Organisation, 2011)

Health, illness and death are not randomly distributed across societies but rather determined based on ones class and socioeconomic status, their education and literacy, employment/working conditions, social and physical environments, food insecurity, social support networks, housing, poverty and inequality. These determinants have clear affects on the inequality of health and how it is

Health can be defined in many different ways, for example, the Bio-Medical model of health believes health to be the absence of pain, biological abnormalities and diseases. Whereas most Socio-medical models of health such as the World Health Organisation consider health to involve a range of different factors such as environment, social life and mental wellbeing alongside the more recognised factors of health e.g. pain and sickness. From a personal perspective, health should cover all aspects, whether it is social, environmental, psychological and physical. All of these aspects are important aspects to a person’s wellbeing. (Taylor & field 2003)

People have many desires, among then good health, but there is a lack of resources to provide all things to all people. Some people would consider resources when talking about health care economics; could include good health, education and access to financial means to afford health care costs or insurance premiums. In the presence of this scarcity, someone, or some process, must decide what mixture of goods and services to produce, what quantity of each is to be produced, and how to allocate the production to participate in the economy. Access and use of available resources can impact one health. “Individuals can undertake a variety of actions to achieve their desired level of health, which is constrained by physical factors and is subject to various risks. People’s choices about living location, work, and diet, recreation, over the counter medication, recreational drug use and formal health care can all affect their health status. Perhaps, startlingly, studies of factors that determine health in affluent societies indicate that changes in lifestyle choices and status such as environment, income, education, and cigarette consumption outweigh the contribution of changes in health care services.” (Answers.com, retrieved 4/6/09)

Such conditions range from ensuring availability of health services, healthy and safe working conditions, adequate housing and nutritious food. The right to health does not mean the right to be healthy” (WHO, 2013, p 1). The right to health also presents three types of obligations on State Parties as follows:

The human rights lens provide a means to examine systemic issues and state responsibility. Human rights principles that apply to patient care include the right to the highest attainable of physical and mental health, which covers both positive and negative guarantee in respect of health, as well as civil political rights ranging from the patient's right to be free from torture and inhumane treatment to liberty and security of person. They also focus attention on the right to be free from discrimination in the allocation of resources to health services and in their availability and accessibility. Furthermore, they protect the health and wellbeing of both mother and children.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) define health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, and emphasis that “there is

The World Health Organisation defined health: “State of complete physical and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (WHO, 1946 p.100). Many factors influence health such as family traits, behaviours, access to quality healthcare and environment (quality of air, bad/good water and housing conditions) (WHO, 1946). The holistic view of health combines the mind (mental), body (physical), emotional and spiritual elements to a person (Ewes & Simnett, 2003).

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948.)

As humans remain different in nature, so are their perceptions and response towards certain issues of their lives and well being. The concept of health assumes to be a typical example of this and hence, poses debate about what it is. “Health” is a word which means different things to different people (Ewles & Simnett, 2003). This essay intends to critically discuss the meaning of health by exploring different definitions and their contraindications.

There is nothing more valuable than good health. Most people would agree that one of the biggest aspects in their lives is trying to manage and improve their well-being. An interesting aspect of health is that everyone has a different view of what it is, whilst sharing a recurrent theme. A common misconception about health is that its main focus deals with illnesses. Personally, I believe the term health refers to living a happy lifestyle physically and emotionally. In addition, I think health is impacted by our surroundings such as our peers and the environment that we live in. I take my health very seriously, as it plays an important part in my daily life. As far as I am concerned, without my health I would not be able to do simple

The World Development Report (1993) explained good health as a crucial part of well-being. It further asserted that spending on health can be justified on purely economic grounds. Improved health contributes to economic growth in four ways: it reduces production losses caused by worker illness, permits the use of natural resources that were totally or nearly inaccessible, as labour is normally poor and ill-educated, increases the attendance of children in schools and hence, learning ability and lastly, it makes possible use of resources that would otherwise have to be spent on treatment, a la “................scarce means, which have alternate use” (Robbins).