National health indicators - Essay Example

National Health Indicators (College) National Health Indicators Introduction A health indicator may be a specific characteristic of an individual, population, or environment that is used to analyze different aspects of the health of an individual or a population. In order to evaluate the health characteristics of different population, three countries with various income levels have been chosen. The selected countries for the analysis are the United States (high-income), India (middle-income), and Bangladesh (low-income).

Health indicators for United States Birth rate-14 per 1000 population Fertility rate- 68.6 births per 1000 women aged 15-44 years Percent born low birthweight-8.2% Life expectancy-77.9 Obese population aged 20 years and above – 34% (Source: World Health Organization, 2007) Health indicators for India Population 60 years and above – 7.8% (in 2001) Crude birth rate (per 1000 population) – 23.8 (in 2005) Crude death rate (per 1000 population) – 7.6 (in 2005) Population with access to improved sanitation – 52% (in 2001) Physician per 1000 population – 7 (in 2005) (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010) Health indicators for Bangladesh Population 60 years and above - 7% (in 2004) Crude birth rate (per 1000 population) – 20.

9 (in 2003) Crude death rate (per 1000 population) – 5.9 (in 2003) Population with access to improved sanitation – 59% (in 2004) Physician per 1000 population – 3 (in 2005) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010) From the above data, it is evident that United States maintains a satisfactory health condition. The US’ life expectancy is 77.9 and it reflects the nation’s improvement in health sector. Similarly, the country keeps a well low birthweight rate (8.2%), which represents the changing face of United States’ health care sector.

At the same time, the nation’s obesity rate is comparatively higher; and this condition can be attributed to life style changes. However, it is clear that US’ high income feature has assisted the nation to maintain comparatively good health condition across the country. While comparing national health indicators of India with that of Bangladesh, it is obvious that India’s health condition is slightly better than that of Bangladesh. India’s 7.8% population was 60 years and above in 2001; but, Bangladesh could not attain this rate even in 2004.

In the case of Sanitation, both India and Bangladesh cannot keep a satisfactory situation because only less than 60% of the population gets access to improved sanitation in both countries. Health indicators show that physicians per 1000 population were 7 in India in 2005 while it was only 3 in Bangladesh. However, the Crude death rate of Bangladesh per 1000 population was 5.9 in 2003 whereas it was 7.6 in the case of India in 2005. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that income level of a country has a direct impact on the quality and structure of its health care system.

Since the United States possesses a high-income ratio, it provides betters facilities to its population. India, being a middle-income country keeps better health conditions as compared to the low-income state, Bangladesh. In short, a country’s income level has a direct impact on its health care industry. References “Basic health indicators including the U.N. millennium development goals”. (Aug 2007). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section313/Section1519_10856.

htm “Obesity and overweight”. (June 2010). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm