Variations in Human Health & Life Expectancy (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Variations in Human Health & Life Expectancy in Developing Countries

Global life expectancy

• Life expectancy shows large differences in health across the world

• The population of many of the richest countries in the world have life expectancies of over 80 years 

• In the countries with the worst health, life expectancy is between 50 and 60 years

Health & Life Expectancy in Developing Countries

•  Levels of life expectancy and health vary considerably from place to place in the developing world

•  Factors which inhibit health and life expectancy in the developing world include: 

  • Poor healthcare

    • A lower GDP per capita means countries struggle to invest in their healthcare e.g. vaccines, equipment, medical training

    • People may have to travel a long way to access healthcare eg. to urban areas 

  • Food insecurity

    • Malnutrition leaves a population more open to diseases

    • Especially the vulnerable (young children, pregnant women)

  •  Poor access to clean water

    • Waterborne diseases, such as cholera, are prevalent in developing countries

    • Poor water quality is exacerbated by inadequate sanitation

• Across Africa’s 54 nations, there are still big differences in:

  • Life expectancy

  • Levels of infant and maternal mortality

  • Access to food

  • A safe water supply

• The north African countries place better on the Human Development Index (HDI) than central African countries due to:

  • A longer life expectancy

  • A higher GDP per capita

Variations in Human Health & Life Expectancy in Developed Countries

• Despite higher levels of economic development, life expectancy and health still vary from nation to nation in the developed world

  • In Western European countries people can live on up to 10 years longer than their Eastern European counterparts

• Societies in the developed world are typically polarised, showing extremes of poverty to great wealth

•  A key factor for this difference is the amount of money countries spend on healthcare

•  Other factors also affect life expectancy and health:

  • Lifestyle choices  and diet

    • Smoking, alcohol consumption and excessive saturated fats limit developed nations’ life expectancy

    • In the USA and UK, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer affect a large proportion of the population

    • This also adds strain to their healthcare systems

  • Deprivation

    • When an individual or community lack the fundamental necessities required for a decent quality of life e.g.

      • Employment opportunities

      • Decent housing

      • Healthy diet

    • People living in deprivation (poor diet, housing and healthcare) have a greater health risk

    • Deprivation lowers their life expectancy and increases the death rate

  • Quality and accessibility of healthcare

    • Countries with national health services that are ‘free’ (funded by some form of taxation) mean poorer people can access healthcare

    • Countries where healthcare is largely in the private sector and paid for by the individual often provides a wider range of effective services 

Variations in Human Health & Life Expectancy Within Countries

•  Studies within countries suggest that life expectancy varies due to:

  • Ethnicity

  • Poverty and deprivation

  •  Lifestyle and socio-economic group

  • Healthcare

Regional variation within the UK

• Current UK estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for average life expectancy are:

  • 82.8 years for women

  • 79.1 years for men

• Despite increases in average life expectancy across the UK, significant differences remain in life expectancies of different groups

Life expectancy for different English regions

•  These regional variations are linked to a range of determinants, including:

  • Socio-economic status

  •  Income

  •  Lifestyle choices (smoking, obesity)

• The North East region has a lower life expectancy and a higher death rate, due to higher amounts of smoking and alcohol consumption

• Spending on fresh, healthy foods (vegetables, fruit and fish) is lower in Northern England due to:

  • More manual jobs, with lower wages

  • More unemployment due to deindustrialisation

  • Higher levels of deprivation

• Women in the most deprived areas in England can expect to live for 7.5 years less than women in the least deprived areas 

Ethnic variations within Australia

•  Life expectancy in Australia is one of the highest across the world

  • 79.7 years for men

  •  83.1 years for women

• However, there is a massive difference between the indigenous aboriginal population and the non-indigenous population

• Aboriginal life expectancy for men is around 10.6 years shorter than non-indigenous men

•  9.5 years shorter for women

• The main contributing factors are:

  • Poor housing

  •  Dispossession of their traditional lands

  • Low education level

  •  High unemployment

  • Hidden ethnic discrimination

  •  Life style - use of illicit substances and alcohol abuse, heavy smoking

  •  Lack of transport to the medical centres

• Aboriginal Australians have faced discrimination, genocide and marginalisation within their own lands since the British began their colonisation in 1788 

• Aboriginals did not receive any acceptance from the Australian government until 1967

• This has led to poverty amongst Aboriginal Australians as they have struggled to access services (education, healthcare, housing) and experienced discrimination