Health Inequality and Development: Achieving Better Health in Developing Countries

Throughout most of the last century there has been steady improvement in health outcomes. Among them are improvements in life expectancy, which has increased significantly across countries. On average people now live longer and healthier than even 50 years ago. Life expectancy improved globally from a lowly 48 years in 1955 to 68 years by 2005, and for a number of countries it currently exceeds 80 years (WHO 1996; UNDP 2007). This substantial increase in longevity has been coupled by a dramatic control of infectious diseases that has further improved the average quality of life. Despite this massive improvement in health outcomes there is a growing concern that disparities in health achievements are increasing. Consider the life expectancy for African females, which was 49 years in 1978 compared to the world average of 63. By 1998, the average life expectancy for females improved by six years, whereas in African countries it only increased by two years, thus widening the life expectancy gap (WHO 1999).