Paper Assignment

Nations or groups of nations can occasionally serve as natural experiments allowing us to see how certain factors that influence population health can change over time. For instance, available evidence suggests that Russia was much less healthy than the United States in 1900 but had mostly caught up in mortality outcomes by 1960, when progress languished. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the adoption of capitalist elements, mortality increased substantially in those nations and has not yet returned to the lower levels enjoyed previously (Walberg, et al, 1998). The vulnerable populations varied in different parts of the former Soviet Union as did the specific diseases responsible for the observed increase in mortality. The increase itself, however, is not in question. This suggests that a disease focus may not be the best way to address health in nations. This week, you examine the Russian experience and see how the dynamic is reflected in two other large eastern hemisphere nations, India and China.

You examine the impact globalization and economic inequalities have on many issues in some high populace countries including health, poverty, human rights, and the environment. You also consider how larger populations display various health outcomes.

Earlier in the course, the different population health outcomes of two culturally and economically similar neighbors (the U.S. and Canada) were considered. This week, the focus shifts to the eastern hemisphere and an examination of health inequalities between and within nations with large, diverse populations.

Both India and China had similar health outcomes at the end of WWII. Unlike India, China's health improved tremendously over the next 30 years. When it did not have a focus on economic growth, China's health achievements surpassed India. Since the economic reforms 30 years ago, health progress in China has not been growing as much. Today, India is booming and is home to some of the richest people in the world, but it is also home to more food insecurities than anywhere else in the world.

To prepare for this Assignment, review your Learning Resources this week. Consider how certain large populations within a single political entity can still display disparate health outcomes. Think about how areas such as Kerala can have remarkably different health outcomes than the countries they are in. What makes those areas different from the rest of the country?

The Assignment (3-4 pages):

Describe two health outcomes for which India and China have had different experiences in the last half century.

Explain the reasons for the disparities noted.

Describe the experience for those outcomes in Kerala and suggest reasons for why they are similar or different from the rest of India.