Essay on Low Health Expectancy

A healthy population is not only vital but also a necessity for a country’s economic growth and development. There is an inherently strong connection between the health status of the population and the level of development of a country. Most countries that are exceptionally developed have an overwhelmingly healthy population,

Lastly, the overall quality of life most likely is not has good as middle and high income countries. One in low income country will always have to worry about their health where as here in the US I feel as if we have little worry about getting sick or having a deadly disease getting too far spread through our country.

Studies show that people living in poverty face adverse living conditions which are associated with various ranges of health problems (Raphael, 2007). This means that people who live in poverty are more likely to suffer from chronic illness such as: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and various form of cancers. As a result of poverty, individuals are more likely to have a lower life expectancy and higher mortality rate because of those facing numerous chronic illnesses. People living in poverty or in a low income bracket are more likely to be less healthy and have more medical conditions compared to their counterparts. As a result, they are more likely to be in the hospital more frequently with more complicated healthcare needs (Williamson, Stewart, Hayward, Letourneau, Makwarimba, Masuda, Rainee & Reutter, and Rootman & Wilson, 2006).

Social determinants of health — examples include gender, socioeconomic status, employment status, educational attainment, food security status, and availability of housing and transportation, colonization and health system access and quality,

This assignment will discuss different factors that determine health. According to World Health Organisation, “Health has been defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 2017). There are many social determinants factors that can influence health such as socio-economic factors, income, genders, education and cultures. These factors determine health and wellbeing. For example, some people are healthier than other people.

Indeed, “Social determinants are relevant to communicable and non-communicable disease alike”¹. The healthcare system work and is different among the countries and some parameters that help to maintain these inequalities are the poor control of major diseases which influenced directly on the life of expectancy. Second poverty which is linked to infectious diseases and third the poor conditions where people live and work which contribute to the mental, physical and violent deaths¹.

“A girl born today can expect to live for more than 80 years if she is born in some countries – but less than 45 years if she is born in others” (Commission on Social Determinants of Health [CSDH], 2008, p. iii). This startling statistic is found in the introduction to the report by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) on the impact of certain inequities on people’s health throughout the world. These inequities, referred to as the social determinants of health (SDOH), are the social and economic conditions in the environment in which people are born, live, work and play. A key finding in this report is that these dramatic differences in health are not just confined to the poorest, most socially disadvantaged countries. The CDSH also found that the health of people in all countries follow a social gradient, meaning that people with the lowest socioeconomic (SES) status were found to have the poorest health regardless of the country they live in (CSDH, 2008).

The two countries of interest are Kenya and the United States. The countries rank differently on the various indicators. The paper will try to answer why this is so. Kenya is presently ranked at position 147 with a human development index of 0.535. On the other hand, the United States ranks 5th with an average of 0.914. Kenya has its life expectancy at birth at 61.72 while that of the United States is 78.94. The reason for the quite high figure is due to the improved health care facilities that the country possesses. There are enough medicines and medical equipment to respond adequately to emergencies. Kenya does

20. Gwatkin DR. Health inequalities and the health of the poor: What do we know? What can we do? Bull World Health Organ 2000;78:3-17. PMID:10686729

Socio economic status and primary care both directly impact health indicators. It is impossible for an individual to have direct control over having good or poor health. Truly ones culture and surroundings determines ones health. These health disparities can be seen the most between the richest and the poorest people. This is because the more money a person has the healthier they are, while a person with less money has less access to healthcare. This paper will discuss the variance between 4 different countries from all income levels including Haiti, Bolivia, Mexico and the United States. Due to many low and middle class populations not being able to afford healthcare, healthier food alternatives, and safe water supply, deteriorating health

(next) There must be a reason for the health access of different countries. This are some of the possible reasons. Many poor countries are countries affected by the cold war and not fully recovered yet. The countries is poor and which the citizens will be poor. There are corruptions and despotism amongst the rulers. Despotism is when there is a ruler with absolute power.

In today's world, poverty is a common term used to describe over 20% of the population. In order to obtain a clear understanding on how poverty affects one's health, the term itself must be apprehensible. The precise definitional can be strongly controversial. Poverty is living with limited resources to provide the basic needs, and activities of daily living. Over the years, life expectancy has improved significantly in all social classes, but there are still health inequalities in the lower and working class. Members in a lower class have many disadvantages when it comes to staying healthy and living longer. Factors including work environment, lifestyles, behavior, physical and mental demands accumulate to one's value of life. An even more

Medical knowledge is less than adequate in these societies, leading to much illness and a very high death rate. The infant mortality rate is overwhelmingly high, which is a reason for the high birth rates. Many infants do not make it through their first year of life before they get deathly ill - most of them do eventually die from their illness. The medical technology of modern society is so expensive to third world countries, making it extremely difficult for their society to stay healthy. Life expectancy is about 40-45 years in traditional societies.

This essay aims to investigate two distinct solutions to increase the life expectancy in the developing countries.Life expectancy is the number of years in average that a person is expected to live depending on the conditions he\she is born into. Life expectancy varies from country to country; the developing world tends to have a low life expectancy due to lack of health, clean water and economic conditions. The countries that consist of low life expectancy are majorly the Sub Sahara Africa nations. Therefore, the expected years in which a person may live based on the socio-economic condition of the country itself, such as enough health care, accessibility to clean\safe water and education. Moreover, in 2000 the United Nations created the Millennium Development Goals, which consisted of eight goals; “eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV\AIDS, environmental sustainability and global partnership for development”. However, low life expectancy issues majorly focus on child mortality, poverty and education.

Life expectancy estimates the equivalent years in full health that a person can expect to live on the basis of the current mortality rates and prevalence distribution of health states in the population (W.H.O 2012). It has increased in the west; however, the same cannot be said for developing countries due to increase in diseases such as HIV/AIDS. This essay will look at the main causes of these problems and give possible solutions, taking Nigeria as a case study, where life expectancy is 52 years with a rank of 182 out of 194 nations (WORLD HEALTH REPORT 2000). It will conclude by arguing that media and government need to take a more active approach to tackle these problems in developing countries.