Health Indicators of Development

A country’s health and its level of development usually go hand-in-hand. The more economically developed a country is the more it can devote to food and health care. LDCs often suffer from undernourishment and poor health care. Although nutrition and health care are not directly computed into the Human Development Index, they can have an indirect impact through a country’s average life expectancy.

There are many health indicators that can affect a country's level of development. This post will focus on a very specific indicator: HIV/AIDS. This disease can reveal strong parallels to a country's level of development especially when looking at the prevalence within a population (% of people infected). HIV/AIDS is currently listed as an epidemic and no country - whether MDC or LDC - is immune to it (World Health Organization [WHO], 2007). As of 2008, it is estimated that 38 million people have HIV/AIDS (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], 2009). The estimated global death count for 2005 was over 2 million.

Though nearly 170 countries and territories have reported cases of the disease, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contains the vast majority of them (CIA, 2009). 8 of the 10 most populated HIV/AIDS countries are located in SSA while the 47 countries that make up the region account for over 27 million infections - about 70% of the HIV/AID global population (CIA). The map to the right illustrates the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in SSA.

It is interesting to note that the other two countries on the top ten list are India (ranked 3rd with 2.4 million cases) and the United States (ranked 10th with about 1 million). However, the important demographic when analyzing this disease is the prevalence within a country. India with 1.1 billion people ranks 167th in the world - with only .3% of the population infected ("List of Countries", 2009). China, the world's most populous country with 1.3 billion people, reports 700,000 cases but the prevalence is the lowest in the world with only 0.1% of the population infected ("List of Countries"). The United States, with a current population of 308 million, ranks 68th in the world with approximately 0.6% of the population testing positive for the disease (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). When you divide the approximate 38 million global cases of HIV/AIDS by the current world population of roughly 6.8 billion people HIV/AIDS, the average equates to about 0.56% of the population. This then means the U.S. roughly mirrors global average, while Swaziland - which contains the highest percentage of infected people - is over 53 times the worldwide median ("List of Countries"). 19 of the 20 highest percentage to population HIV/AIDS cases are located in SSA. Clearly this data reflects the region's struggling development as they lack adequate health care services and professionals. The text illustrates the health care deficiencies of SSA on page 205. SSA has the world's lowest physician per population ration; they also have one of the world's lowest health care expenditure ratios.

* It is worth mentioning that the worldwide prevalence of HIV/AIDS (0.56%) only reflects confirmed cases. UNAIDS (2008) reports the world average to be around 1%. Other conservative estimates fluctuate between .6% and 1.4% - however the overriding consensus seems to be about 1%. These estimates assume that there are millions more undiagnosed individuals testing positive for the epidemic.

The extreme disproportion of HIV/AIDS in SSA truly epitomizes the dire crisis these countries face. The map below visibly shows the vast discrepancies of worldwide HIV/AIDS cases. The WHO (2007) has fortunately shed some hope in controlling the spread in SSA. The organization reports that there has been a "significant reduction" in new HIV infections since 2001. Even so, this still represents 1.7 million new infections for SSA in 2007. International efforts and increased global awareness have surely contributed to this reduction, yet much work still needs to be done. The first step for many of these underdeveloped and developing nations is to allocate a higher percentage of their GDP to health care expenditures. As the text states, "A healthier population in turn can be more economically productive" (p. 204).

References

Central Intelligence Agency. (2009). The World Factbook 2009. Country comparison: HIV/AIDS. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2157rank.html

List of countries by HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate. (2009, November 30). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_adult_prevalence_rate

UNAIDS. (2008). 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2008/

U.S. Census Bureau. (2009, December 10). US & world population clocks. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

World Health Organization. (2007, November 20). Global HIV prevalence has leveled off. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr61/en/index.html