Population mortality

by Michael Zamecnik

Definitions:

• Crude death rate: The crude death rate is the total

number of deaths per 1000 people. The crude death rate for the whole world is currently about 9.6 per 1000 every year (based on 62 million deaths in 2006, for a population of 6,5 billion).

• Age-specific death rate: The age-specific death rate refers

to the number of deaths per 1,000 of a mean of the total population in the age group that is.

• Life expectancy: Life expectancy is the average

number of years of life remaining at a given age. Life expectancy is heavily dependent on the criteria used to select the group. In countries with high infant mortality rates, the life expectancy at birth is highly sensitive to the rate of death in the first few years of life.

LEDC and MEDC countries used in the comparison:

Somalia Finland

Somalia• A former British and Italian colony,

gained its independence in 1960

• From the beginning of the 1970s, Somalia has been troubled by a bloody and exhausting civil war

• Today, there is a world recognized government within the state, but however, the country is currently divided into five nearly autonomous regions (Puntland and Somaliland being the most prominent) that govern themselves.

• As the war had nearly destroyed Somalian economy and infrastructure, Somalia is still heavily reliant on foreign aid, as the damage dealt will take decades to revive

• The main religion of Somalia is Sunni Muslims

Finland• Declaring independence in 1917,

Finland has ever since been a country largely bound to its neighbor, Russia

• After WWII, Finland has been partially reliant on the USSR, which changed rapidly in the 1970s with Finnish economy growing rapidly

• Today, Finland is considered the second most stable country in the world in the terms of social, economic, political and military indicators.

• Finland has also proven excellent results in public education, gross domestic product and the protection of civil liberties

Social development

Finland:• As Finland is one of the most stable

countries in the world, the social sector and its development is according to it as well, being considered as one of the most “enlightened“ in Europe

• Education within Finland is one of the best in the world, the average literacy rate is currently at 100%

• The political situation is also very stable, with a parliamentary system and a president as the head of state (currently Tarja Halonen)

• The overall religion of Finland is Christian, specifically the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Somalia:• Because of over thirty years of a turbulent

political situation, resulting in many wars, Somalian society has been torn apart by both the militias of the local warlords and the hardship of the economic situation

• Education still remains a large issue, as only 38% of Somali population are literate while the rest remain illiterate or unable to attend the educational system within the country which remains torn apart by the divisions within the country

• Theft and piracy is continuously at large within Somalia and the sea surrounding it

• Because of the continuous conflicts, Somalia has one of the largest diaspora communities of all African states (the diaspora community being prominent e.g. In Toronto, Canada)

• An important aspect to mention as well is the presence of religion within Somalia, which is very prominent in both education and the general nature of the population

Economic development

Finland:• Finland has a highly industrialized

free-market economy with a per capita output equal to that of other western economies such as France, Germany, Sweden or the UK. ranked second largest after Ireland.

• Overall short-term outlook was good and GDP growth has been above many EU peers, currently being at $36,000 per capita. Inflation has been low, averaging 1.8 percent between 2004 and 2006.

• Finland is highly integrated in the global economy, and international trade is a third of GDP. The European Union makes 60 percent of the total trade. The largest trade flows are with Germany, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA, Netherlands and China..

• Finland is the only Nordic country to have joined the Eurozone.

Somalia• Somalia is economically

underdeveloped, with the primary agriculture sector being the most dominant. The current GDP is at $600, ranking as one of the lowest in the world

• Currently, livestock is accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population.

• After livestock, bananas are the principal export; sugar, sorghum, maize, and fish are products for the domestic market.

• The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of GDP.

Healthcare

Finland:• There are 307 residents for each

doctor in Finland. About 18.9 percent of health care is funded directly by households and 76.6 percent by public and other insurances. Thanks to that, Finnish healthcare is widely considered as a very well functioning one

• The life expectancy is 82 years for women and 75 years for men.

• The death rate is at 10 deaths/1,000 population and the general infant mortality rate is one of the lowest in Europe at 3 infants per 1000 live births

• Finland's health problems are similar to other developed countries: circulatory diseases make up about half of all causes of death and cancer is the second most common.

Somalia:• Healthcare in Somalia is considered as a

very underdeveloped one.• More than a decade of civil war has

devastated civil healthcare to a level close of nonexistence

• There is only 0,04 doctors per 1000 people, resulting in a general lack of healthcare to both children (including infants) and adults

• The life expectancy in Somalia is considerably low, averaging at 47 years for males and 51 for females

• The death rate is 15.89 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.), with the general infant mortality rate as high as 110 infants per 1000 live births, only showing the lack of healthcare

• However, an intriguing fact is that while the breadth of the AIDS pandemic has led to the idea in the West that the entire continent is ravaged by the disease. But Somalia — isolated for 14 years since the civil war began and populated by devout Muslims — has an infection rate of only 1% of the adult population.

Conclusion

• Hence as a conclusion, the rate of mortality is clearly dependant on the level of development of the state, as both the medical care and the level of HDI are clearly responsible for the death rate, especially if considered with the rate of infant mortality, which is in the case of

• Furthermore, as for my comparison, I have chosen two very different examples to demonstrate the differences that result with such wide gaps in the overall GDP of the countries.

• While in Finland we can see a late tertiary-early quaternary society with well functioning social, economic, governmental and healthcare systems, in the case of Somalia, the society has been, thanks to the prolonged conflicts and destabilization of the country, reduced to a early primary – basic secondary economy, heavily reliant on foreign investments and imports. With only $600 per capita, Somalia ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world, which only further reasons why therefore this situation has such an impact on the healthcare and eventually the death rate as well.