Indicators for Health Status of the World, Country and Local Community
What will be assessed is the health status of the world, country such as the Philippines and the local community such as a region or a province, city, town, or barangay in the Philippines.
The basic question in assessing the health status is when to say that the world, country and local community is healthy or not. In other words, what are the criteria and indicators to use.
When does one say that the world, a country and a local community is healthy?
World Health Organization (WHO) defines a healthy person as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” It also defines a healthy person as one who is socially and economically productive.
The question is up to when as everybody knows there is a limit in the lifespan of every person. The longest officially recorded lifespan is 122 years old (Jeanne Calment). The average lifespan worldwide is 71.4 years old as of 2015. The WHO has used 70 as the cut-off year for counting premature death (any person dying before age 70 dies a premature death).
A proposal is that when a person has lived up to 70 years old (at the present time and standards) and is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity and is socially and economically productive, he should be considered healthy. This should be used as the operational definition and indicator of healthy individuals. This should be used as a basic guide for all individuals, families, communities and health organizations in assessing the health status of the world, country and local community.
The world is healthy if at least the majority of the population in the world (unless there is an internationally agreed specific numerical target) are healthy based on the above operational definition.
The country is healthy if at least the majority of the population in the country are healthy based on the above operational definition.
The local community is healthy if at least the majority of the residents in the local community are healthy based on the above operational definition.
The operational definition can be extended to a family. If majority of the family members are healthy, then the family is considered healthy.
Current Formal Measures of Health
For population such as the world, country, and local community, what are the current formal measures being used to determine whether a population is healthy or not? There are so many formal measures being used. Some use minimalist approach, meaning using simple and critical measures such as life expectancy and infant mortality deaths and premature death rates. Some would add more measures such as pollution, safe water supply, etc.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy is the most commonly used measure to describe population health and reflects the overall mortality level of a population. Life expectancy measures how long, on average, a person is expected to live based on current age and sex-specific death rates. To put it in simple terms, life expectancy is the number of years of life a person born today is expected to live.
The first thing that a person will ask when determining the health of a population is usually life expectancy.
The life expectancy in the world ranges from 49 to 83 years with an average of 74.1 years in 2015 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy). As a rule, those countries with life expectancy in the higher level, say 70 to 80, are considered to be healthier than those with life expectancy in the lower level, say 50 to 60.
Infant Mortality Rate
The infant mortality rate is often used as an indicator to measure the health and well-being of a population.
The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths (under one year old) in a given year that occur for every 1,000 live births. The low infant mortality rate connotes healthier population.
The infant mortality rate in the world ranges from 2 to 180 / 1,000 live births with an average of 32 / 1,000 live births in 2015. Those countries with an infant mortality rate in the vicinity of 2 / 1,000 live births are considered healthier than those with higher levels.
Premature Death Rate
The premature death rate is currently being used as a health indicator. WHO is using 70 as the cut-off age. Numbers of deaths before age 70 is a more readily measurable indicator than life expectancy. The smaller the frequency of deaths before age 70 in a country, the connotation is that it is healthier as compared to a country with higher frequency.
Sustainable Development Goals Index
Currently, starting 2015, to run up to 2030, the United Nations and World Health Organizations are using the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factor Scoring Index (33 indicators) derived from the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a gauge of healthy population. The higher the score, the healthier is the country.
http://www.thelancet.com/…/PIIS0140-6736(16)31467-2.pdf –
Note: Other indicators such as maternal mortality ratio, neonatal mortality rate, healthy life expectancy can be used in additions to those mentioned above.
ROJ@17apr15