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| Life Expectancy at Birth |
Infant Mortality Rates | |||||
| Region | 1950–55 | 1980–85 | 1960–65 | 1980–85 | ||
| (years) | (deaths per 1,000 live births) | |||||
| World | 49.9 | 64.6 | 117 | 81 | ||
| Africa | 37.5 | 49.7 | 157 | 114 | ||
| Asia | 41.2 | 57.9 | 133 | 87 | ||
| South America | 52.3 | 64.0 | 101 | 64 | ||
| North America | 64.4 | 71.1 | 43 | 27 | ||
| Europe | 65.3 | 73.2 | 37 | 16 | ||
| USSR | 61.7 | 70.9 | 32 | 25 | ||
| Oceania | 61.0 | 67.6 | 55 | 39 | ||
| Source: WCED, based on data in World Resources Institute/International Institute for Environment and Development, World Resources 1986 (New York: Basic Books, 1986). | ||||||
29. The 'health status' of a society is a complex concept that cannot be measured easily. Two widely available indicators that reflect at least some aspects of a given society's health are life expectancy and infant mortality rates. (See Table 4–3.) These statistics suggest that health has improved virtually everywhere: and, at least with regard to these two indicators, the gap between industrial and developing regions has narrowed.
30. Many factors can increase life expectancy and reduce mortality rates: two are worth emphasizing. First, although generally speaking national wealth buys national health, some relatively poor nations and areas, such as China, Sri Lanka, and the Indian state of Kerala, have achieved remarkable success in lowering infant mortality and improving health through increases in education, especially of women: the establishment of primary health clinics; and other health care programmes.[1] Second, the principal reductions in mortality rates in the industrial world came about before the advent of modern drugs; they were due to improved nutrition, housing, and hygiene. The recent gains in developing countries have also been largely due to public health programmes, particularly for the control of communicable diseases.
31. Education is another key dimension of 'population quality'. The past few decades have seen a great expansion of educational facilities in virtually all countries. In terms of
- ↑ WHO, Intersectoral Linkages and Health Development, Case Studies in India (Kerala State), Jamica, Norway, Sri Lanka and Thailand (Geneva: 1984).
