Health & Welfare

The U.N. considers good health to be as an important a measure of development as wealth and knowledge. A goal of development is to provide the nutrition and medical services needed for people to lead long and healthy lives. Chapter 2 discussed in detail the many differences worldwide in health and medical services.

A Long & Healthy Life

From the many health and medical indicators, the U.N. has selected life expectancy at birth as the contributor to the HDI. Life expectancy at birth was defined in Chapter 2 as the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live at current mortality levels. A baby born in 2018 is expected to live on average to age 72 worldwide, to 80 in developed countries, and to only 61 in sub-Saharan Africa.

Life Expectancy at Birth, 2018

Life expectancy at birth averages 79 in developed countries and 71 in developing countries.

People are healthier in developed countries than in developing ones. When people in developed countries get sick, these countries possess the resources to care for them (Figure 10-13). Developed countries use part of their wealth to protect people who, for various reasons, are unable to work. In these countries, some public assistance is offered to those who are sick, elderly, poor, disabled, orphaned, veterans of wars, widows, unemployed, or single parents. Better health and welfare in developed countries permit people to live longer. With longer life expectancies, developed countries have a higher percentage of older people who have retired and receive public support and a lower percentage of children under age 15 who are too young to work and must also be supported by employed adults. The number of young people is six times higher than the number of older people in developing countries, whereas the two are nearly the same in developed countries

Medical Services

(a) in Sweden, a developed country; (b) in Togo, a developing country.

Better health and welfare also permit babies to survive infancy in developed countries. About 95 percent of infants survive and 5 percent die in developing countries, whereas in developed countries more than 99.5 percent survive. The infant mortality rate is greater in developing countries for several reasons. Babies may die from malnutrition or lack of medicine needed to survive illness, such as dehydration and diarrhea. They may also die from poor medical practices that arise from lack of education.

Consumer Goods

Part of the wealth generated in developed countries is used to purchase goods and services. Especially important are goods and services related to transportation and communications, including motor vehicles, telephones, and computers.

Motor vehicles provide individuals with access to jobs and services and permit businesses to distribute their products. The number of motor vehicles per 1,000 persons is approximately 182 in the world as a whole, 580 in developed countries and 102 in developing countries.

Consumer Goods: Motor Vehicles

The highest level of motor vehicle ownership is in North America, and the lowest is in South Asia.

Telephones enhance interaction with providers of raw materials and customers for goods and services. The number of cell phones per 1,000 persons is approximately 1,045 in the world as a whole, 1,200 in developed countries and 1,000 in developing countries. Computers facilitate the sharing of information with other buyers and suppliers. The number of Internet users per 1,000 persons is approximately 500 in the world as a whole, 900 in developed countries and 400 in developing countries.

Consumer Goods: Internet Users

Developed countries have much higher percentages of the population using the Internet than do developing countries.

Products that promote better transportation and communications are accessible to virtually all residents in developed countries and are vital to the economy’s functioning and growth. In contrast, in developing countries these products do not play a central role in daily life for many people.

Motor vehicles, computers, and telephones are not essential to people who live in the same village as their friends and relatives and work all day growing food in nearby fields. But most people are familiar with these goods, even if they cannot afford them, and may desire them as symbols of personal achievement.

Because possession of consumer goods is not universal, a gap can emerge between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” The minority of people who have these goods may include government officials, business owners, and other elites, whereas their lack among the majority who are denied access may provoke political unrest. In many developing countries, those who have these products are concentrated in urban areas; those who do not live in the countryside. Technological innovations tend to diffuse from urban to rural areas. Access to these goods is more important in urban areas because of the dispersion of homes, factories, offices, and shops.

Technological change is helping to reduce the gap between developed and developing countries in access to communications. Cell phone ownership, for example, is expanding rapidly in developing countries because these phones do not require the costly investment of connecting wires to each individual building and more individuals can obtain service from a single tower or satellite.

Pause & Reflect 10.1.4

In addition to cell phones, what other electronic devices might diffuse rapidly to developing countries because of decreasing cost of equipment and lack of need for costly infrastructure?