Definition of Health & Illness:
Health is the basic
human right of all the human beings. Health contributes to a person’s basic
capability to function. Denial of health is not only denial of ‘good life‐chance’, but
also denial of fairness and justice (Sen 2006). The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights stated in Article 25: ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his
family….’(United Nations 1948). The Preamble to the World Health Organization
(WHO) constitution affirms that it is one of the fundamental rights of every
human being to enjoy the highest attainable standards of health. Article 21 of
the Constitution of India also identifies health as an integral aspect of human
life (Desai 2007). Further, Article 47 (Part IV: directive principles of state
policy) says: The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and
the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as
among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to bring
about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of
intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health. However, the
spirit of the constitution hardly gets reflected in the health policies and
programmes in India. Definitions and conceptualization of health may vary
systemically among various social groups and it is likely that different
accounts of health are drawn according to social circumstances.
Following are some
simple points to understand health:
·
Heath is a
metaphor for well‐being. To be healthy means to be of sound mind and
body; to be integrated; to be whole. Over time and across societies,
influential theorists have emphasized that health consists of balance, of being
centered. The concept of health can be applied to human parts, as when we say,
‘Your mother has a healthy heart’ or ‘Your father has a healthy psyche’. More
generally, health refers to a holistic notion of individual well‐being.
·
One’s
perspective on health is oriented by cultural values (Gilman, 1995). For
example, contemporary Western medicine evaluates the health of a body organ or
individual through a series of technological laboratory tests used to determine
if indicators of structure, such as readings of radiographs, and function, such
as kidney filtration rates, fall within a ‘normal’ range for this individual in
these circumstances.
·
The World Health
Organization (WHO) defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental
and social well‐being, and does not consist only of the absence of
disease or infirmity".
Health is not just a
matter personal choice, nor it is only a biological issue; patterns of
wellbeing and illness are rooted in the organization of society.
This definition also confirmed
health as a social issue and this is borne out by evidence which demonstrates
that standards of health have varied over time and also from one society,
culture and country to another. For example, what is considered as good health
in a low‐income country such as Sri Lanka is very different
to what is considered good health in the high‐income
UK. and insuring a safe environment.
·
The biomedical
approach which dominated the medical thought till the end of nineteenth century
and based on the ‘germ theory of disease’ views health as an ‘absence of
diseases’. This approach almost ignores the role of environmental,
psychological and other socio‐cultural factors in
defining health. The ecological approach views health as a dynamic equilibrium
between man and his environment. For them, disease is maladjustment of the
human organism to environment. The psychological approach states that health is
not only related to the body but also to the mind and especially to the
attitude of the individual. The socio‐cultural
approach considers health as a product of the social and community structure. A
functional definition of health implies the ability of a person to participate
in normal social roles.
·
A sociological
understanding of health considers structural and social factors, rather than
simply biological explanations of health and disease. It describes the complex
relationship between structural factors and personal choice in relation to
health inequalities.
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