Global Health (AQA A Level Geography)
Revision Note
Written by: Robin Martin-Jenkins
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Global Health Patterns
Global patterns of health, mortality and morbidity
Spatial variations in patterns of health exist and these patterns change over time
Various measures of health are used
Mortality rates can be measured in different ways
In less developed countries this is due to poor socio-economic resources leading to lower life expectancy
In developed countries this is due to higher life expectancies leading to ageing populations
Infant mortality, case mortality and attack rate tend to be higher in developing countries with the highest rates generally in sub-Saharan Africa
High crude death rates exist in all regions of the world
World Health Organisation (WHO) uses healthy life expectancy (HALE), which refers to how long a person can be expected to live in good health without significant disease or injury
2000 average for Africa was 45.8 years
2019 figures for HALE at birth show a global average of 63.7 years with Western Oceania (68.6) and Europe (68.3) having the highest regional average, and Africa (56.0) the lowest
HALE is increasing in every region of the world
Morbidity patterns vary according to two different types of illness:
Non-communicable disease is often more prevalent in HICs due to higher proportions of elderly population.
Older people are more likely to suffer from some cancers and heart conditions
Increasing affluence can lead to unhealthy lifestyles and sugary diets which can lead to a higher risk of developing cancer, diabetes and heart disease
Non-communicable diseases - medical conditions that are not infectious such as asthma, cancer and heart disease
Communicable diseases - infectious conditions that can be passed from person-to-person such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and coronavirus
LICs are more likely to see higher rates of communicable disease due to poor quality of water supply, less education around healthy lifestyles, poor quality of sanitation and health care
High rates of morbidity do not always translate into high rates of mortality
Depends on level and quality of healthcare and medicines
In Africa 79 out of 100,000 got some form of cancer in 2012. In North America the figure was 510 out of 100,000
But 55 out of 100,000 died from cancer in Africa, a 70% incidence to death rate In North America 197 died, a 39% incidence to death rate
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Make sure you can define all the key terms in this section. You might get asked a 4 mark question on them but they are just as useful used in the higher tariff questions to show your knowledge and understanding of ideas and processes. This is what is known as Assessment Objective One (AO1) and this type of knowledge is worth half the marks in your A level papers.
Epidemiological Transition
Epidemiological Transition
The Epidemiological Transition model (proposed in 1971 by the Egyptian American epidemiologist Abdel Omran) describes how mortality rates in places change over time
There are close links between this model and the Demographic Transition Model
Due to economic and social developments the main causes of death in countries shift from infectious diseases to degenerative, non-communicable illnesses
Economic developments over time that impact on health include
Investment in food production technology to increase supply of food and quality of diet
Investment in transport infrastructure to allow more widespread distribution of food and medicine
Improved sewage and drainage infrastructure in urban areas
More trade of goods and services allowing importing of more varied food supplies in exchange
Social developments over time that impact on health include
Increasing supply of clean water
Sanitation provision improved
Education about diet, sanitation and disease prevention improved, especially amongst women
New medicines and vaccines discovered and more people have access to healthcare
Improved training of medical staff
Stage 1
High number of deaths from infectious disease; low life expectancy
Stage 2
Improved socio-economic conditions lead to falling number of deaths from infectious disease and increasing life expectancy
Stage 3
Non-communicable illness starts to affect more people as they are living longer and increasing affluence leads to less healthy lifestyles
Stage 4
Better treatment leads to delay and prevention of non-communicable disease despite higher life expectancies
Stage 5
Re-emergence of infectious diseases as globalisation allows disease to spread more easily and bacterias develop resistance to antibiotics. It is argued this is what happened with the Covid-19 Pandemic
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It’s unlikely you would be asked to draw the epidemiological transition model in the exam, but you may be asked to outline what it says in a 4 mark question. You might also be able to use your knowledge and understanding of it to apply to longer questions about how and why global health changes over time.
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