Human Geography- Health & Human Rights Questions Flashcards
Explain the relationship between wealth, income and human contentment (HAPPY PLANET INDEX)
Happy Planet Index = Health x Justice x Wellbeing
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Ecological footprint
- Explain how Sharia Law may give an alternate view on the relationship between human development, wealth and contentment.
In most countries national government (law) is separated from religion (morals). This is known as secularisation
It isn’t just restricted to religious matters but also criminal punishment, marriage, contracts etc.
It is regarded as oppressive, especially to women
It doesn’t sit well with the UN Declaration of Human Rights but Sharia Law countries are some of the most wealthy (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar.)
A Muslim who becomes a non-muslim is punishable by death
A woman can have one husband but a man can have up to 4 wives
A woman cannot speak to a man who is not her husband or relative
Explain how socialist governments such as Bolivia provide an alternate view that human development is linked to wealth.
Evo Morales and the socialist government
- 1ST indegenious president and very popular – just secured a third term in power
- he is a strong socialist, believes that the whole country should benefit from development
- Renationalised industries (oil and gas) to gain control and invest in health and infrastructure
- Poverty has fallen by 43% since he came to power but a quarter still live in extreme poverty of less than $2 a day
- Problem- he no longer has plans for development and relies on natural resources which is causing less issues for the environment
1Explain why some people would consider the following elements as more important than wealth in terms of human development
i. Environmental Quality
Is the quality of air, water land and natural environments in which people live. Pollution and environmental degradation have a negative influence on human wellbeing. The NEF assessment of the global footprint showed that 1987 was the first year in which humans used more resources than the earth provided. The overuse of natural resources occurs earlier each year, and in 2016 it was estimated that this happened on the 8th August
ii. Health
Health can be assessed through mortality rates, which can be age specific – such as infant or child mortality – or cause-specific – for example deaths from diseases or natural hazards. Food scarcity and malnutrition many exaggerate mortality rates. In addition, conflicts such as civil wars clearly bring the threat of death or injury, reducing wellbeing.
iii. Life Expectancy
It is the number of years a newborn baby is expected to live assuming living conditions in the area of birth do not change. Usually given separately for males or females, life expectancy is and indicator of health and it reflects the living conditions and health care system of a place.
iv. Human Rights
They are enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. They are international codes. They are international codes but as the Freedom Index shows, this does not guarantee that people’s rights are recognised.
Why is education so important for economic development?
- Through education literacy levels improve and this enables people to learn and communicate more widely
- Education pays: according to the world bank, for every year of school earnings are raised by 10% a year.
- Skills demanded in the labour market are changing, poor workers are handicapped by the poor performance of education systems in most developing countries
OECD report, WEF providing every child with the access to education and the skills needed to participate in society will boost GDP by an average of 28% a year in LEDCS and 16% in MEDCs
Why does education vary across the world in terms of gender equality?
- 131 Million Young and Adolescent girls out of school
- In modern democracies, equality laws now ensure that women have equal status and rights, but some cultures in developing countries still restrict female freedoms.
- UNESCO believes that Gender equality can be achieved through education.
- Access to education is restricted in times of internal concflict and because of poverty. In culturally conservative Islamic countries there may also be restricitions which affect females, for example on mixed gender schooling and the roles of male and female teachers, and that he belief that girls shouls should be learning how to run a home and preparing for married life. But there is a wide difference between Islamic countries and, rather than religious influences, conservative traditions and poverty may be the most important factors.
Explain why variations in health and life expectancy vary so much in the developing world
- 80 % of the world’s population live in developing countries, By 2050 the world’s population is expected to have grown by a further 2.5 billion, which much of this increase in Africa
- population growth increases pressure on resources such as food and water, on living space and infrastructure such as sanitation
- Widespread poverty and overcrowding, especially in growing cities ensures that health issues persist in many developing countries, despite success in eradicating some diseases.
- Tensions between different groups such as in Libya and Syria can lead to open conflict which leads to peoples wellbeing being affected.
- maternal mortality- Ivory coast 3% and Kenya 17%
- poor water and sanitation- 4000 deaths globally
- poor access to food – 70% of livestock has been lost in Somaliland- mass famine
Explain why variations in health and life expectancy vary so much in the developed world
- Russia 70.5 years and Japan 83.7 years
- These are variations which are linked to diet, lifestyle, relative deprivation and access to medical care
- Positive correlation between spending on healthcare and life expectancy- Switzerland $9673 and 83 years compared to Russia 70.5 years US $893.
- Japanese National Centre for Global Health and Medicine – a study found that a healthy balanced diet was one of the main reasons.
- 48% of difference in health in Europe and USA can be accounted for firearms, drugs and driving.
- USA has higher poverty levels, with limited access to healthcare for poorer people who don’t have health insurance
- Obesity, heart and lung disease and pollution levels in cities.
Explain why variations in health and life expectancy vary so much within countries (there are a range of reasons you need to know them all) . Look at the north / south divide AND ethnic variations in Australia.
- Difference in males and females because men take on more physically demanding work.
- The living environment, Bebington, Wirall and Kesgrave has higher than Liverpool and Middlesborough, cities that have experienced economic decline and deprivation.
- North/South Health Divide smoking and alcohol patterns Easington Durham has the highest percentage of smokers 27 percent
- Liverpool, alcohol and hospital (657 per 100,000)
- London also has the highest rates of infectous diseases, probably because of its high population density and the large number of migrants and tourists moving through the capital.
- People on lower income levels tend to have lower educational attainment, which affects their attitude to diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption, may also limit their access to healthcare.
INDEGENIOUS AUSTRALIA - Life expectancy is about Ten years shorter for both males and females is almost ten years shorter, heart disease and cancer. 2x more common in indigenous people.
- Infant Mortality Rates twice as high
- Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent
- Indigenous adults are three more likely to experience psychological distress because of greater exposure to unemployment, alcohol nd drugs, gambling and suicide rates are higher.
Explain why and how social and economic development is linked to government decisions?
- They depend on governmental ideology, Brazil for example is focused on economic development as a way of increasing social development whereas some governments are on the welfare state
- Some governments focus on military spending and others adopt a totalitarian regime with little spent on health and education as a way of controlling the population
Explain the roles of the following IGOs
a. The UN
Their role is to maintain international peace and security
b. The WTO
They are a global organisation which deals with the rules of trade between nations
c. The World Bank
they are an international organisation that fights poverty by offering developmental assistance to middle income and low-income countries
d. The IMF
They secure financial stability, facilitate international trade and promote high employement and sustainable economic growth.
What was the aim of the MDGs and were they successful? if not, why not?
The aim of the MDGs were created by the UN in 2000 with the aim of reducing global poverty
The aim was to complete them by 2015
Successful to an extent
Extreme poverty: 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015
The number of women in parliament has doubled
Maternal mortality has decline 45%
2.1 billion have gained access to improved sanitation
Why were the SDGs created and how do they differ from the MDGs?
They were created to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing our world.
They are a set of 17 more specific goals.
What is the aim of the UDHR
- It set out the fundamentals of human rights that everyone is entititled to. It has 30 articles specifying these rights, such as freedom, justice, peace and no persecution to be applied within countries and internationally
Give an example of 2 countries that did not sign up to the UDHR and EXPLAIN why they didn’t.
Saudi Arabia- conservative Islamic beliefs do not agree with freedom of religious choic eor equal rights of women in marriage. Some Islamic countries believe it is too ‘westernised’, and in 1990 they produced their own similar version- The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam.
