Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a condition “of full physical, mental and social wellness and not just the absence of illness and infirmity.” A number of definitions have also been used over time for different purposes. In medicine, health is a state or quality of life that is fair to the patient and meets standards of care and quality of life. It is considered to be the sum of the total features of the person that affects his ability to satisfy the needs of society.
The definition also states that there are no incurable illnesses. While this is true, there are still instances when disease or illness can’t be prevented, and it will always take effort and medical treatment to overcome the illness. Illness and diseases are known as Absentia. Diseases are generally defined as diseases or sicknesses which are not recoverable after making an attempt to cure and having made an effort to overcome them.
Illness is often associated with old age, but old age is not the only threshold for contracting diseases. Other factors like behaviors like substance abuse, unhealthy diet, underdevelopment of the reproductive organs, poverty, sex, gender, and other social factors contribute to a person’s vulnerability to diseases like cancer, HIV, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. While it is true that AIDS is the disease that killed the majority of the infected individuals in the early years of its existence, the current perception of AIDS as a disease that kills mostly young people who live in towns where there is a lack of good health care has contributed to its bad image.
Good health is not only an absence of diseases or illness, but good health also implies the absence of disability from injury, illness, accidents, and death. Persons who are physically capable of doing things on their own and have the capacity to protect themselves and others from harm may be able to fend off diseases on their own, but they will not be able to do this on their own if they are suffering from some disability. This is why disability can often lead to death. In fact, this definition of disability is the same one that is applied in other contexts, such as the definition of insanity, because “insanity” can also mean the inability to do even ordinary things on one’s own. Thus, disability is a complex concept that is part of a definition of good health.
Another factor that contributes to poor health standards is low life expectancy. Life expectancy can differ dramatically between developed countries and those in developing countries, and this difference is largely a function of poverty. Life expectancy can be defined as the number of years at which a person would live according to statistics. Developed countries have a very high life expectancy rate, especially in Europe and Asia, and this factor partly explains the difference in health and medical standards between these two groups.
Poor health standards have a lot to do with the poverty of societies in developing countries. Health and development are linked closely, since the former improves the quality of life, and the latter improves the quality of life through greater prosperity. Yet, it is not clear how much the absence of good health or improved life expectancy affects development. Some have argued that the lack of a good definition of health policy, and the prioritization of symptoms over prevention make health policies too intrusive into people’s private lives. Others point out that the focus on diseases rather than diseases themselves can prevent true preventive measures from being taken, and that this can reduce the benefits of health interventions.