The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm
Health and human rights are two inseparable and interrelated elements, whose provision and assurance enhance welfare in any society. Definition of welfare, human rights, and health as indicators of welfare development is controversial which is done in accordance with different approaches and discour...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fas |
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Tehran University of Medical Sciences
2018-03-01
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| Series: | مجله اپیدمیولوژی ایران |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irje.tums.ac.ir/article-1-5985-en.html |
| _version_ | 1818990259429441536 |
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| author | V Yazdi Feyzabadi R Seyfaddini M GHandi MH Mehrolhasani |
| author_facet | V Yazdi Feyzabadi R Seyfaddini M GHandi MH Mehrolhasani |
| author_sort | V Yazdi Feyzabadi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Health and human rights are two inseparable and interrelated elements, whose provision and assurance enhance welfare in any society. Definition of welfare, human rights, and health as indicators of welfare development is controversial which is done in accordance with different approaches and discourses. Although the WHO definition is currently the only definition of health agreed upon by the member states of the Organization, it has been subject to criticism by the international society. In general, the most important criticisms include ambiguity, ideality, limitlessness, lack of comprehensiveness, lack of weighting to aspects of health, being non-operational, reductionism, and lack of a precise definition of the normal condition and disease. These criticisms would expose health systems to some challenges such as increased expectations of people, rapidly growing health expenditure, inconsistent expansion of technology-based systems, increased vulnerability to corruption, and equity and efficiency issues. Identifying and examining these criticisms can lead to a more informed decision to redefine health according to the favorable and context-sensitive discourse of the health doctrine in each country. This short review briefly describes the context and the most important criticisms of the WHO definition of health. Eventually, some policy suggestions are presented for redefining health according to Islamic-Iranian discourse. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T19:51:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-249a0f13a4bf4b1da5aac49939817c15 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1735-7489 2228-7507 |
| language | fas |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T19:51:32Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Tehran University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | مجله اپیدمیولوژی ایران |
| spelling | doaj.art-249a0f13a4bf4b1da5aac49939817c152022-12-21T19:28:18ZfasTehran University of Medical Sciencesمجله اپیدمیولوژی ایران1735-74892228-75072018-03-0113Vol.13, (Special Issue)155165The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting ParadigmV Yazdi Feyzabadi0R Seyfaddini1M GHandi2MH Mehrolhasani3 Assistant Professor, PhD in Health Policy, Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Associate Professor, Neurologist, Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran MSc Student in Health Technology Assessment, Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Associate Professor, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Health and human rights are two inseparable and interrelated elements, whose provision and assurance enhance welfare in any society. Definition of welfare, human rights, and health as indicators of welfare development is controversial which is done in accordance with different approaches and discourses. Although the WHO definition is currently the only definition of health agreed upon by the member states of the Organization, it has been subject to criticism by the international society. In general, the most important criticisms include ambiguity, ideality, limitlessness, lack of comprehensiveness, lack of weighting to aspects of health, being non-operational, reductionism, and lack of a precise definition of the normal condition and disease. These criticisms would expose health systems to some challenges such as increased expectations of people, rapidly growing health expenditure, inconsistent expansion of technology-based systems, increased vulnerability to corruption, and equity and efficiency issues. Identifying and examining these criticisms can lead to a more informed decision to redefine health according to the favorable and context-sensitive discourse of the health doctrine in each country. This short review briefly describes the context and the most important criticisms of the WHO definition of health. Eventually, some policy suggestions are presented for redefining health according to Islamic-Iranian discourse.http://irje.tums.ac.ir/article-1-5985-en.htmlhealthworld health organization (who)criticismparadigm |
| spellingShingle | V Yazdi Feyzabadi R Seyfaddini M GHandi MH Mehrolhasani The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm مجله اپیدمیولوژی ایران health world health organization (who) criticism paradigm |
| title | The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm |
| title_full | The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm |
| title_fullStr | The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm |
| title_full_unstemmed | The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm |
| title_short | The World Health Organization\'s Definition of Health: A Short Review of Critiques and Necessity of A Shifting Paradigm |
| title_sort | world health organization s definition of health a short review of critiques and necessity of a shifting paradigm |
| topic | health world health organization (who) criticism paradigm |
| url | http://irje.tums.ac.ir/article-1-5985-en.html |
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