Theoretical literature on the relation between health and economic growth suggests that there could be a two way relationship between them. Higher economic growth leads to higher investments in health, and therefore better health. On the other hand, better health is increasingly seen as a key tool in achieving higher economic growth.
The effect of economic growth on health is well known. The level of health expenditures depends on income or available resources in both private and public sectors. Higher income implies that there is more money available to be spent on health. Research in the field of health economics indicates that variations in health care expenditure per capita could be mostly explained by variations in GDP per capita (Gerdtham & Jonsson, 2000).
A theoretical basis does also exist for the reverse causation, from health expenditure to income and economic growth. The role of health care spending, as an investment, on stimulating economic growth has been suggested by Mushkin. According to him, health is considered as capital. Therefore, investment on health can increase income and hence lead to overall economic growth. (Mushkin, 1962). This is especially seen on low income or developing countries. The World Health Organization’s Commission on Macroeconomics and Health report of the year 2001, states that “extending the coverage of crucial health services to the world’s poor could save millions of lives each year, reduce poverty, spur economic development and promote global security” (World Health Organization, 2001).
Establishing the direction of the causality between health and income has become one of the main issues in the field of health economics. An informal explanation of this causality is: “a lot of people ...
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...elationship stops being binding. (Grossman, 1972)
Due to the problems associated with using life expectancy as a proxy variable for health, many authors use health expenditure as representative of health status. There are some specific reasons for this. According to the World Bank, the differences in health care spending among countries constitute a good starting point for explaining the differences in health levels across countries. (World Bank, 1993). In exploring the relationship between public health expenditure and health status, Rivera found that increases in public health expenditure significantly improve both physiological and physical health. (Rivera B. , 2001). Therefore, this study will use health expenditure per capita as a proxy for health and GDP per capita as a proxy for economic growth, in trying to identify the impact of health on economic growth.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health around the World. The impact of resources and material deprivation among people and populations has resulted in an increase in mortality rate on a planetary scale. Social determinants of health are defined as the personal, social, economic and the environmental conditions which determines the health status of an individual or population (Gardner, 2013). Today’s society is characterized by inequalities in health, education, income and many other factors which as a result is becoming a burden for Public Health around the world. Research studies have shown that the conditions in which people live and work strongly influenced their health. Individuals with high levels of education and fall within the high income bracket turn to have stable jobs, live in the best neighborhood and have access to quality health care system than individuals who have low education and fall with the low income bracket. This paper is to explain different social determinants of health and how they play ...
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
Variations in life expectancy and its changes are one major cause of rising income inequality. How long a person lives, as well as their quality of health, can have an important and huge impact on their income and social mobility. The life expectancy of the bottom 10% increases at only half the rate that the life expectancy of the top 10% does (Belsie). This shows that improvements in medicine benefit the wealthy more than the poor. The less wealthy have decreased access to good medical insurance and cannot afford more expensive, quality medical care. The poor are less likely to invest in healthy food and exercise, lowering life expectancy and overall health. These changes result in a cycle that causes the poor to be less healthy, and the less healthy to become increasingly poor. On the other side, the rich have different variations of habits, education, and environments, which can affect life expectancy, often positively for the
Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M.G. 2003, Social determinants of health: the solid facts, World Health Organization.
The potential impact of social determinants of health may not seem obvious from the onset. However, the situation may be pronounced when the government does not ignite the importance of health and wellness among the general population.
EFFECTS OF MEDICAL RESEARCH ON HEALTH CARE AND THE ECONOMY, By: Herbert Pardes, Kenneth G. Manton, Eric S. Lander, H. Dennis Tolley, Arthur D. Ullian, Hans Palmer, 01-01-99, Academic Search Premier
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
Today, in the contemporary United States, there are many different influencers to a person’s health, such as poverty and/or unemployment. However, education is the most important influence on health because without a good, thorough education, people are less likely to have access to health care, be able to afford health care and they are more likely to live shorter lives. A lack of education makes poverty and unemployment more likely, which obviously have a negative effect on a person’s health.
Gavin Turrell, B. F. (1999). Socioeconomic Determinants of Health:Towards a National Research Program and a Policy and Intervention Agenda. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
Most of these articles also argued that healthy policies by themselves cannot achieve the expected health improvement.1-3,7-13 This is why the US healthcare access cannot be improved without paying attention to the social and environmental needs of the poor Americans, who in most cases are at the receiving end. The social determinants of health can only be improved through actions targeted at the factors that improve life.1-3,4-5 Government policies should be translated into actions that are centered on enhancing the conditions in which people live, work, play, and grow.1,3,12 The situation that people are born into should not control their destiny, access to healthcare or other opportunities in life, because it will be then unfair and unjust. 1-3,7-13
Social determinants of health have attracted the attention of governments, policy makers and international health organisations over the last three decades (Hankivsky & Christoffersen 2008). This is because social conditions which people are born in, live and work play an important role in their health outcomes (WHO 2015). According to Kibesh (1200) social determinants drive health disparities, disrupts the human developmental process and undermine the quality of life and opportunities for people and families (ref). Thus, several theories have been developed over the years to provide in-depth understanding of the social determinants of health and to reduce health inequalities (Hankivsky & Christoffersen, 2008). However, there is still significant
National health systems are assessed by the extent to which expenditure and actions in public health and medical care contributes to the crucial social goals of improving health, increasing access to quality healthcare, reducing health disparities, protecting citizens from penury due to medical e...
Nordqvist, Christian stated some facts about health, “ health can be defined as a physical, mental, and social well being, and a resource for living a full life. It refers not only to the absence of disease, but the ability to recover and bounce back from illness. Factors for good health include genetics, the environment, relationship, and education.”(page2). Health can be defined in many factors, but they all relate to a person's status and where their class in the economy. If one is wealthy, he or she can have access to healthcare that provides treatment to any of their health issues. But for the people who have low income, they can not afford health insurance and have a higher risk of becoming ill because they don’t have the resources to live a full healthy life. Most of those individuals have mental health issues because they often stress about living and surviving everyday with so little income. Christian Nordiqvist also said, “According to the WHO, the higher a person's socioeconomic status (SES), the more likely they are to enjoy good health, a good education, a well-paid job, afford good healthcare when their health is threatened” (pg.2). Christian is correct because the wealthier a person is, the higher chance of being in good health because he or she has the privilege of good health
Mirowsky and Ross explain how health “increases effective agency” and also helps build “habits, skills, resources, and abilities” that helps a person improve their lives (Mirowksy and Ross, 2010: pg. 33).
Economic growth is one of the most important fields in economics. In current generation economic is developing well. Economic growth is really important to country and for the world as well. Economic are one of the identity for country because it shows a country development and attraction for other countries (F, Peter. 2014). For example well economic develop such as Singapore, Dubai, New York, and Japan. These countries are well develop and maintaining their economic growths. Economic growths are really important because higher average incomes enables consumers to enjoy more goods and services. Then, lower unemployment with higher output and positive economic growth firms tend to utilize more workers creating more employment. Enhanced public