Health & Education

• Modernisation theory


  Sociologists recognise that health opportunities in the developing world are often significantly worse than in developed countries
• Life expectancy is lower and infant mortality higher in LEDCs than MEDCs
• Modernisation theorists


  See this as part of a march of progress that countries take, and that it is through modernisation-adopting western values and practices-that countries can develop modern healthcare
• Modernisation theory assumption


  Western healthcare is superior to that which exists in developing countries, and therefore it is logical to adopt it and make use of it
• Rostow advocated that technological medical advances in the west should be transferred to developing countries, through aid programmes, to ensure high quality healthcare and improve quality of life
• Neo-liberals


  Agree that western healthcare is superior, but argue that the innovations and improvements have come about through market mechanisms, so the transfer of resources should be through trade in services rather than grants or free support
• Marxist theory


  Blame the western nations for problems in the developing world, rather than seeing them as the source of solutions
• Navarro's view


  What was needed was a) basic healthcare to keep people alive and prevent preventable diseases, and b) doctors. The focus should be on essentials that prevent diseases, rather than the latest innovations
• Navarro pointed out the problem of brain drain, where doctors trained in LEDCs are attracted to work in MEDCs due to higher pay
• Dependency theorists


  Argue that colonialism and the world capitalist system have caused the health problems in the developing world
• European diseases were exported to the developing world through empire and colonialism, causing a great increase in death rates
• Replacing subsistence farming with the production of cash crops caused malnutrition
• Pharmaceutical companies price life-saving drugs far too high for LEDCs to afford, or prevent them producing cheaper copies
• Some pharmaceutical companies have provided drugs cheaply or even free in poor countries, but this is often seen as a marketing exercise following bad publicity
• Lack of regulations, health and safety laws and legal responsibility has led to TNCs causing terrible health problems in the developing world, such as the Bhopal poison gas leak
• Modernisation theory on education


  Rostow argued that a prerequisite for take-off is an increasingly educated population, and that education is a key part of international aid
• Modernisation theory on education aims


  Developing expert, technical knowledge and specialist skills; developing modern values and attitudes; developing a value consensus and social solidarity; encouraging meritocracy
• Universal education at primary level is often not free, is of poor quality, and hard to enforce, with many families feeling it is more important for children to work
• Higher education is often much more expensive, leading to brain drain as people get qualifications more valuable in MEDCs
• Marxist view on education in the developing world


  See it as serving the interests of global capitalism and a form of neo-imperialism or cultural imperialism, training people to work in TNCs with minimal critical skills