Development and Health - Typical Question and Answer

1a) Suggest one social and one economic indicator of development

and show how each might illustrate a country’s level of development. -
8 marks

One social indicator of development is Life expectancy, this tells

us how old the average person will live to. If it is high e.g. U.K.
78, this shows a high level of investment into healthcare and
people are living longer, a developing country will have poor
healthcare, less access to clean water and poor sanitation leading
to a low life expectancy e.g. Kenya at 47.
One economic indicator is Gross Domestic Product per capita,
this is the amount of goods and services produced in the country,
divided by the population. This indicates how wealthy a country
is and if a country has more money then money is invested into
industrial development and social factors such as education and
healthcare.

b) For HDI (or any other composite measure of development) state

three indicators which may be used in its calculation, and comment on
the usefulness of each of these indicators. 12 marks

HDI is a composite measure of development which uses the

indicators of
1. Adjusted income per capita (purchasing power) 
2. Life expectancy at birth
3. Educational Attainment

1. Purchasing power gives an indication to how much money

the average person has to spend, thus showing a true
reflection on money spent on goods and services, a
developing country would be expected to have a low figures
as more people are employed in primary or subsistence
industries.
2. .Life expectancy this tells us how old the average person will
live to. If it is high e.g. U.K. 78, this shows a high level of
investment into healthcare and people are living longer, a
developing country will have poor healthcare, less access to clean
water and poor sanitation leading to a low life expectancy e.g.
Kenya at 47.
3. Educational attainment is a combination of adult literacy and
numbers of years of schooling. If this is high it shows that a
large number of the population can read and write and are
 likely to be employed in secondary or tertiary industries,
which is likely to be a developed country.

2. Suggest reasons why variations in levels of development

occur between countries in the developing world. 12
marks.

Variations in development exist in the developing world for a

variety of reasons. One is climate. Some countries are
disadvantages though harsh climates such as drought e.g.
Sudan. This can lead to the failing of crops with no escape
from the poverty cycle. Another is Natural resources
countries such as Saudi Arabia have become more developed
through the exploitation of oil and gas whereas others are
disadvantages through their lack of resources e.g. Ethiopia
which has few resources. Natural disasters such as
earthquakes, volcanoes and flooding will affect progress of
development, Bangladesh regularly suffers from flooding,
which ruins crops and can lead to famine.
Other countries are advantages through their entrepreneurial
skills and are known as NIC’s (Newly Industrialising
Countries) where governments have invested heavily in
encouraging industry, this is prevalent in the Asian tigers
e.g. Singapore where their cheap , hardworking and union
free workforce attracted many investors. Others have
developed further as a result of Tourism (e.g. Thailand) .
Many countries suffer as a result of conflict and war within
countries or on a larger scale such as Iraq, money which
would otherwise be spent on developing services is spent on
weapons.
 3. Study the information shown below on Brazil. Using the
information on Brazil, or any other country you have studied,
explain why levels of development vary throughout the
country. 12 marks

1The South-East is much more prosperous than other

regions due to the concentration of industry and commerce
in the “Golden Triangle” of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and
Belo Horizonte. This area has the best transport system in
Brazil, the greatest number of services, and has benefited
most from Government help. Coffee growing has long been
carried out on the rich soils around Sao Paulo producing job
opportunities and creating wealth for the area and the
national economy. Rio de Janeiro (until 1960 the capital of
Brazil )had the advantages of a good natural harbour which
encouraged trade, immigration, industry, and more recently,
tourism.
2The North-East, in contrast, is handicapped by more
‘negative’ factors such as periodic droughts, fewer mineral
resources, the demise of the sugar trade and a shortage
of energy supplies all of which have encouraged outwards
migration.
3 The North (Amazonia) suffers from its more peripheral
location, its inhospitable, rainforest climate, poor soils,
dense vegetation and inaccessibility. Not surprisingly, it is
the poorest of Brazil’s five main regions. Until recently,
there was also a lack of government investment and much
of the region has lost out on basic services such as health,
education and electricity.