Faculty of Health Sciences

Department of Public Health and Development Sciences

The Concept of
Human Development

PDHP 245: Issues in Community Health & Development

 Definition

• Human development is a well-being concept

within a field of development.
• It the process of enlarging people’s choices.
• It has been developed by
Mahbub Ul-Haq &
Amartya Sen
nobel price winner 1998 in economic sciences

— Sen’s work is culminated in his book:

“Development as Freedom”
 Three Pillars of Human Development

— There are three choices that are considered

the pillars of human development:
Ø to lead a long and healthy life,

Ø to acquire knowledge,

Ø and to have access to the resources needed

for a decent standard of living.
 The Dimensions

— These dimensions are translated into the

following indicators that compose the
Human Development Index:
Ø Life expectancy

Ø Literacy rate

Ø Gross domestic Product

 History

— The concept of human development was

first laid out by Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize
laureate for economics.
— Development concerns expanding the
choices people have, to lead lives that they
value, and thus, improving the human
condition so that people have the chance to
lead full lives.
 The Concept

— The concept of human development is that

development is not just concerned about
economic growth, it is a means to enlarging
people’s choices.
— The central theme is to build “human
capabilities”, which aims to enlarge
people’s choices.
 Capabilities

— Capabilities are "the substantive freedoms

[a person] enjoys to lead the kind of life
[they have] reason to value.“
— Hence, enlarging these choices is building
human capabilities, i.e. the range of things
that people can do or be in life. In other
words, it is called “functionings”.
 Capabilities

— Human development diperses the

concentration of the distribution of goods
and services that underprivileged people
need and center its ideas on human
decisions.
— By investing in people, we enable growth
and empower people to pursue many
different life paths, thus developing human
capabilities.
 Capabilities at the Center of
Human Development

— Therefore, the pillars of human

development is based on capabilities.
— The most basic capabilities for human
development are:
ü to lead long and healthy lives,
ü to be knowledgeable (e.g., to be educated),
and
ü to have access to the resources and social
services needed for a decent standard of
living.
 Public Health, Environment,
& Human Development

— The axis of development is that it may harm

or benefit public health, and eventually
human development.
— Some critics say development is
undermined by health concerns as it both
directly and indirectly influences growth to
be lower.
— In 2006, WHO argued the side effects such
as environmental pollution and the
increasing gap between rich and poor.
 Human Development Index (HDI)

— The Human Development Index is an attempt to develop a

better measure of well-being. It is a composite of three
indexes: GDP per capita; life expectancy at birth; and a
combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined
primary, secondary, and college/university enrollment rate.
— For each component index, the
value of 0 is assigned to the
minimum level of the
development indicator (income,
life expectancy, and
enrollment) and 1 to the
maximum, and each country's
score is the percentage of the
maximum level that it achieves.
 Limitations of HDI

— The indicator of income (GDP) is not the

basis for human development
— Equal weighting of each indicator
— Three indices do not reveal the entire
spectrum of human development
Ø What about environment, corruption,
political freedom, nutrition, etc…
 Thank you for your attention…

Questions…
“Wealth is evidently not the good
we are seeking, for it is merely useful
for the sake of something else.”