To What Extent Are Mortality and Morbidity Linked?

Mortality is relates to death, and morbidity concerns illness. Therefore the nature of the illness, depends on whether death is a likely outcome. For example the common cold is highly unlike to cause death on its own, however diseases like AIDS is much more likely to be a common cause of death. This relates to location. For example, AIDS is uncommon in the developed world, whereas regions like sub-Saharan Africa are diagnosing 2 million cases per year. Other diseases such as Malaria cause little or no deaths a year in areas outside the tropics. The nature of the illness is one factor in deciding how far mortality and morbidity are linked.

A second factor is the state of the countries health care. This is usually linked to what stage of the demographic transmission model a country is in. The wealth of the country is usually reflected in the standard of its heath care. If a country has better health care, and more services a person is less likely to die when contracting a treatable disease, than someone in a country with poor health care. An anomaly to this is Cuba. Cuba has one of the best healthcare services in the world, even though it is an undeveloped country. Cuba invested all its money into its health care services, and so that is why its life expectancy is much higher than the average LEDC.

The final factor affecting the links between mortality and morbidity is the state of the individuals health. If one person with a good immune system, no other illnesses and who lives a healthy and active lifestyle contracts a common cold they will not be as affected as a person who is living with AIDS, lives an unhealthy lifestyle and has a very weak immune system. These two people will be affected very differently by the same illness. This also is associated with location, as those living in wealthier countries are educated about issues such as the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

I do think that morbidity and mortality are linked, as most people