health gateway 1

Question 1

what are the 3 factors that contribute to the difference in health of the people in DCs and LDCs?

Answer 1

1. social
   - diet
   - lifestyle choices
   - education
2. economic
   - poverty and affluence
   - investment in healthcare and access to health services
3. environmental
   - living conditions
   - access to safe drinking water
   - proper sanitation

Question 2

how do social factors contribute to the difference?

Answer 2

1. diet
   - poor diets can result in malnutrition (unbalanced diet or insufficient food) or obesity (excessive fat accumulation in the body)
2. lifestyle choices
   - sedentary lifestyles can lead to increased risks of heart diseases, diabetes and depression etc
   - physical inactivity was the cause of 6% of deaths globally in 2012, affecting mostly DCs and the wealthy in LDCs
   - smoking is also increasingly common in LDCs
   - excessive drinking also leads to liver failure and high blood pressure, affecting mostly DCs
3. education
   - higher incomes, better healthcare
   - informed of how to lead healthy lifestyles
   - educated mothers leads to lower IMRs

Question 3

how do economic factors contribute to the difference?

Answer 3

1. poverty and affluence
   - poverty limits spending power to afford healthcare, quality housing and sufficient nutrients
   - children are the most vulnerable to health problems due to poverty as they have less access to vaccinations to protect themselves from diseases
   - affluence provides people with greater access to healthcare, food and the choice to adopt healthier lifestyles
2. investments in healthcare and access to health services
   - in LDCs it may not be as easy to get proper health services as in Dcs as they may have to travel long distances to get to the nearest hospital
   - LDCs have a lower doctor-patient and bed-patient ratio e.g in Bangladesh there are 3 doctors and 4 beds to 10 000 people
   - many LDCs do not have adequate healthcare infrastructure and funds, and thus the burden of healthcare cost is transferred to the people who may not be able to afford it.

Question 4

how do environmental factors contribute to the difference?

Answer 4

1. living conditions
   -durable housing that protects against extreme weather conditions, sufficient living space, easy access to safe water at affordable price
   and access to adequate sanitation (toilets shared by reasonable number of people)
   - good living conditions reduce the incidence of diseases
2. access to safe drinking water
   - lack of access to safe drinking water can cause the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera and lead poisoning
   - water not stored properly can act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes or encourage growth of harmful microorganisms
   - providing safe drinking water requires large investments and time from high costs of construction of water pipes
3. proper sanitation
   - refers to the safe storage, treatment and disposal of waste.
   - human waste contains harmful microorganisms which can cause diseases. Sanitation facilities manage these wastes to prevent exposure to the microorganisms
   - poor sanitation may result in polluted rivers/lakes/reservoirs which may lead to waterborne diseases

Question 5

what are the 2 categories of diseases?

Answer 5

1. infectious diseases

2. degenerative diseases

Question 6

what are infectious diseases?

Answer 6

• communicable or contagious
• transmitted by microorganisms
• can be spread through air, food, water, touch or blood
• commonly associated with poverty, poor diet and limited healthcare
• HIV/AIDS, malaria etc are some infectious diseases

Question 7

what are degenerative diseases?

Answer 7

• the most significant cause of deaths in DCs
• affected tissues or organs deteriorate over time due to lifestyle choices, eating habits, bodily wear and tear or genetic causes
• in DCs, people tend to live longer and are thus more vulnerable to degenerative diseases
• coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke etc are some degenerative diseases

Question 8

what are the indicators used to measure health?

Answer 8

1. infant mortality rate

2. life expectancy