Infant Mortality Rate and Life Expectancy by REY2 https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE Group 2 - Reo, Emiri, Yuki en-us 2017-08-29 05:32:09 UTC 2017-09-03 08:14:57 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Removelove.png https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183310354 2017-08-29 05:36:54 UTC https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183310354 Emiri: What does it measure? Tell us about development. REY2 https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183310362
According to OECD, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is defined as "the number of deaths under one year of age occurring among the live births in a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 live births occurring among the population of the given geographical area during the same year" (Directorate, 2001).

Life expectancy is the average age a person may be expected to live. It is often termed as 'life expectancy at birth' which is defined as "how long, on average, a newborn can expect to live, if current death rates do not change" (OECD, n.d.). Though life expectancy can range within a country (due to differences in gender where female tend to have a higher life expectancy / or provincial differences), the mean value of female and male is the number that we refer to the most.

The trend is that if a country is considered to be a MEDC, its life expectancy will be arguably high and its infant mortality rate relatively low. This is because MEDCs will have a good, sustainable environment for citizens, and will also grant access to medical care when needed. Developing countries are likely for newborn babies to be susceptible to diseases (caused by malnutrition or environmental factors) and suffer without being able to have proper treatment or care. Illnesses such as HIV is more common in developing countries, than in the developed, which affects infants as well. This causes the infant mortality rate to rise.

For example, as of 2015, Japan had a life expectancy of 83.9 years while South Africa had a life expectancy of 57.4 years. It clearly shows how a developed country like Japan is able to hold a high life expectancy, nearly twice as much as the life expectancy of developing countries such as South Africa. 

However, there are special cases where the country's development may not have a direct link to its life expectancy or its infant mortality rate. One example would be America. The life expectancy of the US in 2015 was 78.9 years, which was quite low comparing to other countries which are lower in rank of the MEDCs category. Though there may be several factors that influence this number, the most obvious factor would be the unhealthy diet that the US has, causing obesity to lower the life expectancy.


Citation:

Directorate, O. S. (2001, September 25). INFANT MORTALITY RATE. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=1347

OECD. (n.d.). Health status - Life expectancy at birth - OECD Data. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm

]]> 2017-08-29 05:37:03 UTC https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183310362 Reo: Is it an accurate measure of development? Why or why not? https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183324776 Life expectancy
"Life expectancy at birth is a summary
indicator of mortality conditions and, by proxy, of health conditions. It summarizes mortality
risks and trends across all age groups, including older people.
Measurement of life expectancy at
birth also allows reporting of life expectancy at other ages to track health improvements for
specific age groups in populations."

Reasons:
- The indicator is well
understood, widely used and reported.

Source: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/indicators/hsi_indicators_SDG_TechnicalMeeting_December2015_BackgroundPaper.pdf


Gains in life expectancy at birth can be attributed to a number of factors, including rising living standards, improved lifestyle and better education, as well as greater access to quality health services. This indicator is presented as a total and per gender and is measured in years.

https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm


Life expectancy might vary within the region of the countries. 
"In Italy, for example, there is a north/south divide between the wealthy industrialised north and the poorer rural Mezzogiornio region in the south"

The expectancy can be significantly different within the cities too.
In Mumbai there is a much lower life expectancy in the slums like Dahrvai than in richer areas like Colaba.

Infant Mortality Rate

The infant mortality rate (IMR) has been criticised as a measure of population health because it is narrowly based and likely to focus the attention of health policy on a small part of the population to the exclusion of the rest. 

However, at the same time, it also indicates the medical level and financial state of the country, as mentioned in the life expectancy section. Therefore, the advantages and disadvantages are shared along with life expectancy and so does the ambiguity. 


]]> 2017-08-29 07:36:42 UTC https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183324776 Yuki: How can infant mortality rate and life expectancy be used to support / explain the core - periphery view of the world? https://padlet.com/REY2/REYGroup2_IMR_LE/wish/183337789
Answer - Infant mortality rate is the rate at which children below 1 pass away due to malnutrition, complications during birth, etc. Life expectancy is the average length of time that people from a country are expected to live. This can vary due to a multitude of factors such as food habits, medical availability and so forth.

Since core nations have more wealth and technology, it can be assumed that the people living in these areas, or developed nations, have better access to medical institutions, food, etc. Due to this,  they have lower infant mortality rate and high life expectancy. According to the World Fact book, a HIC such as Japan has a very low infant mortality rate, as low as 2 / 1000 live births (COUNTRY COMPARISON, 2016). Such a developed country would also have a high life expectancy rate, about 85 (Health status, 2014). 
On the other hand, a LEDC such as Afghanistan would lack all the economic supplies needed for such high statistics. It has a very high infant mortality rate,  about 113 / 1000 live births, with a life expectancy of about 60 (COUNTRY COMPARISON, 2016; Afghanistan, 2015)

Therefore, there is a direct link between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates to the core - periphery view of the world. Since wealth can be a measure of economic activity, these statistics can be used as an appropriate measure of the standings of countries among those in the world.

Citations:

Afghanistan. (2015). Retrieved August 29, 2017, from http://www.who.int/countries/afg/en/

COUNTRY COMPARISON :: INFANT MORTALITY RATE. (2016). Retrieved August 29, 2017, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

Health status - Life expectancy at birth - OECD Data. (2014). Retrieved August 29, 2017, from https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm

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