ABSTRACT
The personal characteristics and social circumstances of individuals often give rise to marked variations in subjective assessments of health and self-reported illness. Environmental exposures and lifestyle are more important, although they may exert greater or lesser effects in people with different constitutions. One important and usually reliable indicator of the health of a community is the survival of its youngest members in their first year of life. Infant mortality rates, reflecting the number of babies who die before the age of one are closely associated with the success of the community in achieving reasonable levels of education and literacy, adequate per capita income, food production and supply, as well as the control of disease and provision of medical care. Indicators can be designed and used to represent the effects of social and environmental conditions on health and services which provide both preventive and curative interventions.
