Alejandra Aguilar

HSCI 610

November 13, 2017

Global Health and Human Development Report

According to the United Nations Development Program webpage, as of 2016 The United

States ranks number 10 in the Human Development Index. The human development index “was

created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for

assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.” The HDI focuses on the

average achievement in three specific areas: a long healthy life, being knowledgeable, and have a

decent standard of living. The indicators observed for a long health life include life expectancy

at birth and life dimension index. The indicators observed for being knowledgeable include:

expected years of schooling/mean years of schooling and the education index. The indicators for

a decent standard of living include GNI per capita and the GNI index. The graph below gives a

visual representation of the top 10 countries with the highest human development index.

HDI Graph 1: Top 10 Countries

HDI, TOP 10 COUNTRIES, 2016

0.949

0.939

0.939

0.926

0.925

0.925

0.924

0.923
0.923

0.920

0.920
 According to the United Nations Development Program webpage data collected as of

2016, The United States life expectancy at birth is 79.2 years of age. The bar graph below shows

a visual representation of the life expectancy in the top ten countries. Norway’s life expectancy

is 81.7 years of age. Australia’s life expectancy at birth is 82.5 years of age. Switzerland’s life

expectancy at birth is 83.1 years of age. Germany’s life expectancy at birth is 81.1 years of age.

Denmark’s life expectancy at birth is 80.4 years of age. Singapore’s life expectancy at birth is

83.2. Netherland’s life expectancy at birth is 81.7 years of age. Iceland’s life expectancy at birth

is 82.7 years of age. Canada’s life expectancy at birth is 82.2 years of age. The United States

life expectancy at birth is as mentioned above 79.2 years of age.

Life Expectancy Graph 2: Top 10 Countries

LIFE EXPECTANCY, TOP 10 COUNTRIES, 2016

83.2
83.1

83.1

82.7
82.5

82.2
81.7

81.7

81.1
80.4

79.2

In the graph presented below the lowest ten countries life expectancies are shown. All

information is according to the United Nations Development Program webpage data collected as

of 2016. The bar graph below shows a visual representation of the life expectancy in the lowest

ten countries. Central African Republic’s life expectancy is 51.5 years of age. Niger’s life
expectancy at birth is 61.9 years of age. Chad’s life expectancy at birth is 51.9 years of age.

Burkina Faso’s life expectancy at birth is 59.0 years of age. Burundi’s life expectancy at birth is

57.1 years of age. Guinea’s life expectancy at birth is 59.2 years of age. South Sudan’s life

expectancy at birth is 56.1 years of age. Mozambique’s life expectancy at birth is 55.5 years of

age. Sierra Leone’s life expectancy at birth is 51.3 years of age. The Eritrea’s life expectancy at

birth is as mentioned above 64.2 years of age

Life Expectancy Graph 3: Lowest 10 Countries

LIFE EXPECTANCY, LOWEST 10 COUNTRIES, 2016

64.2
61.9

59.2
59.0

57.1

56.1

55.5
51.9
51.5

51.3

According to the United Nations Development Program webpage data collected as of

2016, The United States maternal mortality rate is 14 deaths per 100,000 live births. The bar

graph below shows a visual representation of the life expectancy in the top ten countries.

Norway’s maternal mortality rate is 5 deaths per 100,000 live births. Australia’s maternal

mortality rate is 6 deaths per 100,000 live births. Switzerland’s maternal mortality rate is 5

deaths per 100,000 live births. Germany’s maternal mortality rate is 6 deaths per 100,000 live

births. Denmark’s maternal mortality rate is 6 deaths per 100,000 live births. Singapore’s
maternal mortality rate is 10 deaths per 100,000 live births. Netherland’s maternal mortality rate

is 7 deaths per 100,000 live births. Irelands maternal mortality rate is 8 deaths per 100,000 live

births Iceland’s maternal mortality rate is 3 deaths per 100,000 live births. Canada’s maternal

mortality rate is 7 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Maternal Mortality Rate Graph 4:

MATERNAL MORTALITY: TOP 10 COUNTRIES, 2016

14
10

8
7

7
6

6
5

According to the United Nations Development Program webpage data collected as of

2016, The United States infant mortality rate is 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. The bar graph

below shows a visual representation of the life expectancy in the top ten countries. Norway’s

infant mortality rate is 2.0 deaths per 1,000 live births. Australia’s infant mortality rate is 3.0

deaths per 1,000 live births. Switzerland’s infant mortality rate is 3.4 deaths per 1,000 live

births. Germany’s infant mortality rate is 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. Denmark’s infant

mortality rate is 2.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. Singapore’s infant mortality rate is 2.1 deaths

per 1,000 live births. Netherland’s infant mortality rate is 3.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Irelands infant mortality rate is 3.0 deaths per 1,000 live births. Iceland’s infant mortality rate is

1.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. Canada’s infant mortality rate is 4.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Infant Mortality Rate Graph 5:

INFANT MORTALITY: TOP 10 COUNTRIES, 2016

5.6
4.3
3.4

3.2
3.1
3.0

3.0
2.9

2.1
2.0

1.6
When comparing the differences in the number of maternal and infant mortality rates in

The United states versus other countries the following results were obtained. I found that even

though The United States is in the top ten countries it has 14 deaths per 100,000 live births in

maternal mortality. The United States also has an infant mortality rate of 5.6 deaths per 1,000

live births. While these numbers may seem rather low in comparison to the other top ten

countries it still had the highest number of maternal mortality rates and infant mortality rates.

The country which had the lowest maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate was Iceland

with 3 deaths per 100,000 births for maternal mortality rate and 1.6 per 1,000 live births for

infant mortality rate.

Since I used the top ten countries I compared the amount of money spent on healthcare in

the other countries compared to the United States. The graph below demonstrates the results
obtained according to the World Health Organization as of 2014, The United States pays roughly

around $9,403 per person in healthcare. The other countries were as follows: Norway pays

$9,522, Switzerland pays $9,674, Australia pays $6,031, Singapore pays $2,752, Canada pays

$5,292, Denmark pays $6,463, Germany pays $5,411, Iceland pays $4,662, Ireland pays $4,239,

and Netherlands pays $5,694. It was definitely possible to see the correlation between the health

spending and health outcomes. I mainly focused on the top ten for my graphs but included the

lowest ten countries with life expectancy to also relate how the smaller the countries the less

money that is spent into health. This can all be related back to why in the top ten lowest

countries the life expectancy is much lower than the top ten highest countries.

HealthCare Expenditure, Graph 6:

TOP 10 COUNTRIES, 2014 HEALTCARE SPENT

$9,674
$9,522

$9,403
$6,463
$6,031

$5,694
$5,411

$5,292
$4,662
$4,239
$2,752

What was surprising shocking being the maternal and infant mortality rate. I would have

expected the United States to have a much lower rate of maternal and infant mortality rate. I

would have expected that since the United States is much more advanced technology wise that it

would have a much lower maternal and infant mortality rate. Yet again I also know that since
the United States is much larger the more likely it is for higher mortality rates to occur. What

didn’t really surprise me was the amount of money spent from each country. It was obvious that

the larger countries were going to invest the most money in healthcare versus the smaller

countries. It is saddening to know that depending on the country the emphasize on healthcare

can be so minimal. I would have liked to be able to include the population size in this report to

compare the population size per each country but it would have been impossible to stay within

the limit of pages. I also would have wished to have been able to include more of the countries

but since the information had so many countries it was nearly impossible to include every single

detail. I had never been exposed to the United Nations Development Program before this

classroom and I found it extremely interesting. I would hope to continue to use it and continue

to observe the statistical information over the next few years.

 References
“United Nations Development Programme.” UNDP, www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html.

“WHO.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization,

apps.who.int/gho/cabinet/uhc.jsp.