ABSTRACT
While health is an integral component of development (Sen 1999), it is a condition which is beguilingly difficult to define (Phillips and Verhasselt 1994). The ‘medical model’ views health as ‘the absence of disease’. Attempts to include a more human-ecological approach are apparent in disease ecology (Learmonth 1988) and public health (Turshen 1989). Recognition of health as a broad social construct is reflected in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition: ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO 1992). Health care studies among rural communities support this broad perspective. Respondents in a study in Zaire included parents living, cultivated land and windows in their house within their definition of healthy. They included crime among health problems, and social
reconciliation as a health intervention. These broad global and community definitions confirm health as an integral aspect of development, and demonstrate the significance of development as a major public health issue.
