Health, human rights and
intervention
Case Studies
,Development is a change for the better, its progress should be sustained The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is a
over a long period of time. There is a close correlation between wealth, measure of sustainable well-being, which
health and life expectancy. (Some would add the care of the environment – shows the extent to which countries
but industrialisation and economic growth often leads to problems). deliver long, happy and sustainable lives
for people who live in them. It is the
GDP - the traditional economic measure of development. It is the sum of ecological efficiency of supporting well-
being. Negative = subjective, only
the market values, or prices, of all goods and services produced in an
produced every 5 years
economy. Negatives = hides inequalities
• Life expectancy (UN data).
Country GDP HDI HPI Purchasing power parity (PPP) - • Experienced well-being – satisfaction
(US$ measures the relative purchasing of a country’s residents with life
trillion) power of different countries’ overall - scale 0 -10 (Gallup’s World
currencies over the same types of Poll).
USA 17.4 0.920 20.7
goods/services as they may cost more • Ecological footprint – average impact
China 10.4 0.738 25.7
in one country than in another so PPP of a country’s residents on the
environment, (Global Footprint
Japan 4.6 0.903 28.3 allows accurate comparisons of
Network).
Germany 3.9 0.926 29.8 standards of living across countries –
uses US$ (Norway, Sweden & Japan
UK 2.9 0.909 31.9 get more for the same money)
France 2.8 0.897 30.4
Human Development Index (HDI) - devised by the UN – a composite measure
Brazil 2.3 0.754 34.3 based on 4 data sets: Life expectancy, Education (using two indicators – literacy
and average length of schooling) & GDP per capita (in US$ PPP)
Italy 2.1 0.887 28.1
From 1990 to 2015, 2 billion people more are now out of low human development.
India 2.1 0.624 29.2
Negatives = HDI takes no account of environmental quality, democracy, personal or
Russia 1.9 0.804 18.7 national security, inequality or freedom of speech.
,Human development has traditionally been measured using the Bolivia under Morales
growth of GDP as an end in itself but the relationship between • Juan Evo Morales, a native Aymara Indian, first
human contentment and levels of wealth and income is complex became president of Bolivia in 2005 – the first
(Happy Planet Index) and many dominant models are contested as Bolivian President to come from indigenous
there is not a universally recognised way of assessing development majority. He is widely known for his anti-
colonialist and anti-imperialist rhetoric.
Sharia Law Policies focused on social gains and reducing
inequalities.
• This is the law of Islam - derived from the actions of the
• transformed Bolivia from years of poverty by
Prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an.
renationalising its oil and gas industries.
It governs actions of a Muslim’s life and in Islamic tradition Sharia • the government now uses revenue from
is seen as nurturing and freeing humanity to realize its individual profits to fund public works projects and social
potential. It shows them the way to happiness and is based on the programmes to fight poverty.
fulfillment of necessities (preservation of religion, life, intellect, • extreme poverty has fallen by 43% however it
lineage and wealth) as well as needs and comforts. still remains one of South America’s poorest
countries and is still dependent on its own
As a legal system it covers a wide range of topics, from public to natural resources for economic growth.
private behavior and beliefs. It is one of the most intrusive and • division of wealth derived from the country’s
strict laws, especially in regards to women so it doesn’t national resources - gave a share of money to
correspond with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It every Bolivian
operates as a parallel legal system to countries like the UK. • ¼ of all Bolivians still live only US$2 a day
• didn’t do much to improve the more ‘human’
The countries that apply this law are both rich (Saudi Arabia) and aspects of development such as education,
poor (Afghanistan). equal opportunities or freedom of speech.
, The Health Map
People are at the heart of the map, reflecting not only the focus
on health, but also the anthropogenic definition of sustainable
development.
All the different facets of a human settlement are reflected in the
series of spheres which move through social, economic and
environmental variables.
The urban development process, and more particularly the
design and planning of settlements, reside in one sphere – the
built environment. Thus planners can see their place in
determining health.
Differences in health reflect the differing social, environmental
and economic conditions of local communities.
The importance of the model is that it can be used to analyse the
knock-on effects which are often much more significant in terms
of health.
