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Health and Human Rights Summary Notes
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Health and Human Rights Summary Notes
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EQ1 What is human development and why do levels vary from place to place?8A.1a)
Traditional measures of development focus on economic indicators. But the concept of development has evolved
to human development, meaning other factors such as education, quality of life etc have to be considered.
● GDP - measure of wealth and mean wealth through income
● Life expectancy - an estimate of how long a person will live for.
● Literacy rate - quality of education which correlates to economic output.
● Infant mortality rate - quality of healthcare and attitudes towards children.
Happy Planet Index World Happiness GDP HDI
index
Description Links life exp, wellbeing and Measures alternative Gross domestic product Summary of measure of
equality with ecological ideas such as social Measure of wealth and mean average achievement in key
footprints support, generosity wealth through income. dimensions of human
and corruption development.
Pros Countries with the highest Helps to promote Economic growth drives Relies on statistical data
values are not the most social change. other types of development. taken at a national level.
developed, suggesting that Advances in health and life Monitors change over time
there needs to be a balance expectancy can only be
between human development delivered through economic
and env management. growth.
Cons Does not include any economic Opinions are largely Modern concept of Does not take into account
data. influenced by the development focuses more freedom of speech, equality,
media on improving wellbeing than democracy and env quality.
solely the environment
Happy Planet Index
Countries with high values on the HPI do not score as highly using HDI. This is because the trends are more
complex
1) Costa Rica - abolished the army and spent the budget on education, health and pensions. Taxes all
fossil fuels and protects rainforests. Uses lots of renewable sources.
2) Norway - free education, public pensions and healthcare. Low unemployment and reasonable hours.
Ecological footprint is three times a sustainable footprint.
Key case studies -
Sharia Law
● This is the law of Islam - derived from the actions of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an.
● It governs actions of a Muslims life and in Islamic tradition Sharia is seen as nurturing and freeing
humanity to realise its individual potential. It shows them the way to happiness and is based on the
fulfilment of necessities and comforts.
● As a legal system, it covers a wide range of topics, from public to private behaviour and beliefs. It is
one of the most intrusive and strict laws, especially in regards to women. It does not correspond with
the Universal Declaration of Human rights.
● The countries that apply this law are both rich (Saudi Arabia) and poor (Afghanistan)
,Bolivia under Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales, a native Aymara Indian became president of Bolivia in 2005 - the first Bolivian president to
come from indigenous majority. He is widely known for his anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist rhetoric.
Policies focused on social gains and reducing inequalities.
● Transformed Bolivia from years of poverty bu renationalising its oil and gas industries.
● The government now uses revenue from profits to fund public works projects and social welfare
programmes.
● Extreme poverty has fallen by 43%. Still dependent on its own natural resources for economic growth.
● ¼ of all Bolivians still live on only US$2 a day
● Did not do much to improve the human aspects of development
8A.1 b)
Economic growth is based on exploitation of natural resources. This means env protection is not seen as a
development goal.
However, there are specific env development goals - called ‘Sustainable Development Goals’
Hans Rosling -
Hans Rosling believed that future goals should focus on environmental prosperity and that human rights are
essential to economic growth and that these cannot exist without a stable government.
Economic growth is needed to build safe infrastructure, raise incomes for medicine and education and help
human development.
8A.1 c)
Access to education is vital as it is an investment in human capital and is henceforth essential for development
Education means better jobs, wages and material benefits. Access to education is a human right.
Gender inequality -
In 2018, 72 million children were not in school, 57% were girls
Educating girls means that mortality rates fall, fertility rates decline, health and education prospects improve,
increased confidence and birth rates go down.
Environment - droughts are likely to affect attendance, girls are pulled to put effort on land to increase
productivity
Economic and social - food shortages lead to economic crisis. Daughters have a dowry and can be exchanged
like commodities.
Family - older girls may perform essential roles such as raising siblings. Lack of access to sanitation in schools
means increased absence.
Education and human rights -
Education informs people about personal health, diet and hygiene.
Allows people to understand their human rights so they can assert them.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and cultural rights recognises the freedom to primary
education.
, 8A.2 a)
Inequality exists between countries.
Variations are explained by differential access to basic needs such as food, water and sanitation which impact
on infant and maternal mortality.
There is a positive correlation between life expectancy and per capita income
Health can impact the economy - for example diseases such as malaria reduce the capacity to work and
therefore the earning capacity. Medical costs can als use up income that could be spent on food, education and
housing.
Poor healthcare - low levels of development mean countries do not have money to invest in their healthcare.
Less educational professionals. People may have to travel a long way to access healthcare.
Poor access to food/clean water - malnutrition leaves a population more open to diseases, waterborne diseases
such as cholera become more prevalent
Climate - many developing nations are situated within Africa and South Asia which have tropical or semi arid
climates. These promote tropical diseases
Overcrowding - rapidly growing cities and informal settlements, diseases are spread easily.
However, health is not entirely dependent on wealth. Cuba’s life expectancy is the same as the USA’s because
Cuba invested heavily in healthcare reducing disease. Moreover, lifestyle factors play a prevalent part in
influencing health patterns. For example, Russia’s life expectancy is a lot lower as alcoholism is present,
meanwhile Asia, which eats lots of vegetables and less meat is a lot higher & big cities are susceptible to
infectious disease.
Inequality exists within countries.
UK Australia Brazil
There are variations between occupational groups and There is a variation between the life Highest life expectancies occur in SE
ethnic groups. Variations in lifestyle including diet, expectancy for indigenous and Brazil, low life expectancy in Rio
education and income have an impact on life expectancy. non-indigenous men and women. because of shanty towns in the
Recent increases in life expectancy are due to Indigenous males' life expectancy is metropolitan area.
improvements in medical advances, better housing and lowered by 10 years and females by 9.5
diets alongside changes to the economy. years. Low life expectancy in the small state
Highest life expectancy = Kensington (84) of Rio de Janeiro reflects the many
Lowest life expectancy = Barking (70) Some of the contributing factors to favelas (shanty towns) located in this
the low life expectancy of aboriginal huge metropolitan area.
Unskilled workers have 8 years lower life expectancy people include poor housing, low
compared to professionals. education level, high unemployment, The relatively low values in the
In deprived, post-industrial areas, unemployment is ethnic discrimination and alcohol abuse northern Part of the country reflect
high, incomes are low and there are prevalent lifestyle its remoteness and relatively
factors that influence life expectancy such as smoking undeveloped nature.
and alcohol consumption. Diet is also a prevalent factor,
with people in the north having more cheap, high fat Also reflect the fact that this is
food being consumed compared to fresh fruits. where many of Brazil’s remaining
Variations between ethnic groups - due to differences in indigenous people live
lifestyle, inequality in access to healthcare/education.
Highest - Chinese men - 78.1
Lowest - Pakistani men - 73.1
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