LIFE EXPECTANCY

A recent 2011 study found startling life expectancy rates…

Angola (Africa): 38.76 average years

Afghanistan (Middle East): 45.0 average years

Guinea-Bissau (Africa): 48.7 average years

Why is it that babies born today can expect to live to around 80 in Western Europe but only to around 50 in sub-Saharan Africa? 

Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years an infant can live after birth. It is no surprise that in the more developed countries (MDCs) the life expectancy rates are much higher than in the less developed countries (LDCs). Before taking a geography class and reading The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography by James M. Rubenstein, I had no idea of the immense differences of life expectancy found throughout the globe.

Click this link to provide yourself with an interactive look at the life expectancies of males and females in countries throughout the world.

Population increases when the birth rate exceeds the death rates, when the birth rate is slightly higher than the death rate and declines in areas when the birth rates fall below the death rates. The world’s population is measured in three ways: Natural Increase, Fertility and Mortality.  

Natural Increase: measured by crude birth rate (CBR), crude death rate (CDR) and natural increase rate (NIR).

•        The world population has been growing by 1.2% each year
•        About 80 million people are added to the world each year

      Fertility: measured by the total fertility rate (TFR)

•        Looks as individuals who are of childbearing age (15-49) and finds an average number of children they could have in their lifetime

Mortality: measured by infant mortality rate (IMR)

•        Highest rates are in LDCs and lowest rates are in the MDCs

This map shows the Infant Mortality Rate on a world wide scale 2008 (Deaths per 1000 live births). 

Author: Sbw01f Date: 26 June 2009

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Infant_Mortality_Rate_World_map.png

     I believe that it is important to be educated on global life expectancies because most people of the northern hemisphere take their quality of life for granted. The middle class child of America, Great Britain, Sweden or Spain could not imagine the unendurable living conditions found within countries with a life expectancy below 60. There is a correlation between countries with a low life expectancy average and a low quality of life. In my opinion the life expectancy rates within sub-Saharan Africa and parts of the Middle East are so low because of the insufficient access to proper medical attention and strain brought on from famine, extreme poverty, governmental suppression and unequal treatment.  

Globe.
Author: penubag Date: 2 May 2008
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ambox_globe.svg

There are reason’s why life expectancy is devastatingly low in countries like Angola, Afghanistan, Guinea-Bissau etc. As citizens of the United States of America and fellow human being it is our responsibility to provide a chance at life, a basic human right, to all the people who aren’t as fortunate as us.

To improve the quality of life I suggest that as a global effort:

•        Countries push for stability through established governments
•       More attention is brought to sexual education with help from volunteer workers    throughout the globe
•       The aids epidemic continues to be fought
•       Genocide along with conflict’s of any sort be worked out peacefully with help from the United Nations
•       More access to clean water supplies by building more wells and improving proximity with regards to villages   
•       Building many more hospitals with close proximity to villages
•       Improved sanitation   
•       Finally, focus on educating the people in every aspect but especially providing the people with an up-to-date sense of nursing and caregiving 

The initiative of improving life expectancy is not to continue rapid population growth-
 its to give the living a chance to live. 

From the wise words of Dean Koontz, author of Life Expectancy, 

“No one's life should be rooted in fear. We are born for wonder, for joy, for hope, for love, to marvel at the mystery of existence, to be ravished by the beauty of the world, to seek truth and meaning, to acquire wisdom, and by our treatment of others to brighten the corner where we are.”

SOURCES:

Book (MLA citation) 

Rubenstein, James M. "Population." The Cultural Landscape. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2011. 53-56. Print. An Introduction to Human Geography.

Internet

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/rankorder/2102rank.html#top

http://chartsbin.com/view/1356

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