Economic development and disease

• Economic developments

  Investment in agriculture; raising yields and farming efficiency in order to provide good-quality food.

  Investment in health services.

  Improved storage of food; improved distribution.
• Social developments

  Better education on sanitation, healthy diets and spread of disease.

  Reduced infant mortality rates.

  Better education and more opportunities to become trained health care professionals.

  Availability of basic medicines and vaccinations.
• Epidemiological Transition Model

  Made By Abdel Omran in 1971.

  As a country develops, there is a transition from infectious diseases having the highest mortality rates to chronic and degenerative diseases.
• Age of infection and famine (1)

  Life expectancy at 20 to 40 years.

  Poor sanitation and hygiene; unreliable food supply.

  Infections; nutritional deficiencie.
• Age of reducing pandemics (2)

  Life expectancy at 30 to 50 years.

  Improved sanitisation; better diet.

  Reduced number of infections; increases in occurrence of strokes and heart disease.
• Age of degenerative and man-made diseases (3)

  Life expectancy at 50 to 60 years.

  Increased ageing; lifestyles associated with poor diet, less activity and addictions.

  High blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, CVD.
• Aged of delayed degenerative diseases (4)

  Life expectancy at 70+ years.

  Reduced risk behaviours in the population; health promotion and new treatments.

  CVD, strokes and cancers are main causes of mortality, but treatment extends life.

  Dementia and ageing diseases appear more.
• Epidemiological Transition Model; Classic/Western model

  e.g western Europe where a slow decline in death rate is followed by lower fertility.
• Epidemiological Transition Model; Accelerated Model


  e.g parts of Latin America where falls in mortality are much more rapid.
• Epidemiological Transition Model; contemporary/delayed model.


  e.g sub-Saharan Africa where decrease in mortality are not accompanied by decline in fertility.
• Prolonged life in ACs means that degenerative illnesses have increased.
• In ACs, overnutrition and excess consumption of sugar, fats and salts has increased the incidence of non-communicable diseases such as cardio vascular disease and type-2 diabetes.
• LIDCs in tropical and sub-tropical locations are more susceptible to communicable diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness.
• Communicable diseases account for majority of deaths in the poorest countries due to poverty, lack of resources, poor hygiene, lack of sanitation, water pollution and inadequate nutrition.
• Overnutrition in EDCs increasing due to dietary choices changing. Other non-communicable diseases (e.g. cancer) are now increasing in EDCs and LIDCs.
• Communicable diseases have been largely eliminated in ACs due to diagnoses, treatment, high standards of living, clean water and good nutrition.