HSBH1012 · Introduction to Health and Health Care
What Is Health?
Week 1 of University of Sydney HSBH1012 Introduction to Health and Health Care asks what we actually mean by “health”: the WHO's 1948 definition and its critiques, the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and primary health care, public health versus individual curative care, and health as a matter of social justice. It introduces the evidence that inequality — not average wealth — drives population health (the Gini coefficient, The Spirit Level), which sets up the social determinants running through the whole unit. Week 1 is covered in the open-book Early Feedback Task quiz, and its essential reading joins the pool the 40% reflection exam draws on.
What this chapter covers
- 01The WHO definition of health (1948): “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” — and its critique as an unattainable ideal
- 02The Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978): health as a fundamental human right; primary health care; inequality between countries as politically and economically unacceptable
- 03Public health = protecting and improving the health of communities through education, policy and research for prevention — acting before curative care is needed (not “public hospitals”)
- 04Who is responsible for health: individual, government, family, local council, WHO, NGOs, private companies, the economy — shared responsibility
- 05Health as social justice: socioeconomic issues (welfare, education, housing, health care) and environmental issues (drought, flooding, malaria)
- 06The limits of GNP/GDP as a health measure (Robert F. Kennedy) and the Gini coefficient (0 = equal; Australia ≈ .34)
- 07The Spirit Level (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009): health and social problems are worse in more unequal rich countries, and not related to average income
- 08Top-ten Australian public-health successes (tobacco control, Slip-Slop-Slap, road-toll and gun-control reforms) as social-justice case evidence
Structured short answer: define health, critique it, and justify “social justice”
- +2(a) Reproduce the WHO (1948) definition verbatim — it is directly examinable (Early Feedback quiz Q4): “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
- +2(b) Strength: it is holistic — it moves beyond biomedical disease to include mental and social well-being, and frames health as positive, not just the absence of illness. Critique: “complete” well-being is an unattainable ideal that would classify almost everyone as unhealthy, and it says nothing about the conditions that produce health.
- +1(c) Define public health as protecting and improving community health through education, policy and research for prevention — acting before curative care is needed. It is a social-justice issue because health follows the distribution of social goods.
- +1(c cont.) Give the two grounded example strands: socioeconomic issues = access to welfare, education, housing and health care; environmental issues = exposure to drought, flooding and malaria. Both track advantage, so protecting health means addressing fairness (Early Feedback quiz Q2 & Q3).
Key terms
- WHO definition of health (1948)
- “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Holistic and positive, but critiqued as an unattainable ideal.
- Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978)
- WHO declaration that health is a fundamental human right, that gross inequality between countries is unacceptable, and that primary health care should be the basis of national health systems.
- Public health
- The science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, policy-making and research for disease and injury prevention — impact before curative care, not “public hospitals”.
- Gini coefficient
- A measure of income inequality: 0 = perfect equality, higher = more unequal (e.g. Sweden ≈ .26, Australia ≈ .34, South Africa ≈ .65). Greater inequality is linked to worse population health.
- The Spirit Level (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009)
- Evidence that health and social problems (life expectancy, mental illness, obesity, homicide, imprisonment) are worse in more unequal rich countries and are not related to average income among them.
- Health as social justice
- The view that responsibility for health is shared (individual, government, WHO, NGOs, the economy) and that health tracks the fair distribution of social and environmental goods, making public health a justice issue.
What Is Health? FAQ
What is the WHO definition of health and why is it criticised?
The WHO (1948) definition is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Its strength is that it is holistic and positive — health is more than the absence of disease. The main critique is that requiring “complete” well-being sets an unattainable bar that would label almost everyone unhealthy, and it says nothing about the social conditions that create health. Knowing both the wording and the critique is high-yield for the reflection exam.
What is the difference between public health and health care?
Health care mostly treats individuals after they become ill (curative, often in hospitals). Public health protects and improves the health of whole communities through education, policy and research for prevention — it aims to have impact before curative intervention is needed. In HSBH1012, public health is also framed as a social-justice issue, because who gets sick tracks the distribution of welfare, education, housing and environmental exposures.
Why does inequality, not average wealth, matter for health?
The lecture's Robert F. Kennedy point is that GNP “measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile” — average national wealth does not straightforwardly buy population health. The Spirit Level evidence (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009) shows that among rich countries, more unequal ones (higher Gini) have worse life expectancy, mental illness, obesity and violence, regardless of average income. This is the empirical bridge into the social determinants of health.
Can AI help me with Week 1 of HSBH1012?
Yes. Sia can drill you on the exact WHO wording, help you build a strength-and-critique of it, explain Alma-Ata and primary health care, and coach a practice reflection on the Week 1 reading against the exam rubric. It explains step by step and checks your reasoning; it will not write your graded reflection, and University of Sydney academic-integrity rules apply. Confirm assessment details on Canvas.
Exam move
Lock down the two verbatim anchors first — the WHO 1948 definition and the Alma-Ata idea of primary health care as a human right — because both recur across the unit and the exam. Then practise the move the reflection exam rewards: quote the definition, critique it, and connect it to the inequality evidence (Gini, The Spirit Level). Draft your Week 1 reflection now on the essential reading, hitting the five reflection elements and referencing in APA 7th, so you already have a bank draft for the six-reading exam pool. Because Week 1 is also covered in the open-book Early Feedback quiz (Weeks 1-2), make sure you can answer the WHO-definition and social-justice items cold. Ask Sia to test you on the definition and then grade a short practice reflection against the 60/20/20 rubric.
Working through What Is Health? in HSBH1012? Sia is AskSia’s AI Health Sciences tutor — ask any HSBH1012 What Is Health? question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how HSBH1012 is taught and assessed. Read this chapter free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.
