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

Global life expectancy

Life expectancy (2021)

• 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

• 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

Life expectancy at birth across the European Union (2020)

• 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 

•  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 

The life expectancy gap between rich and poor

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