Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Assistant Professor, Payame Noor University
Abstract
The current study, drawing on mathematical modeling, aimed at uncovering factors influencing life expectency (as a proxy of health) among OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) countries. More specifically, this article tried to examine health criteria set in the Muslim world in homogeneous income countries. In doing so, we initially depict a conceptual model, and then investigate the various factors affecting health issues by the use of a generalized model developed by Grossman in those countries. The findings of the study ( in a period from 1995 to 2009) revealed that the effective factors were the varibles of GDP per capita, the ratio of total health costs in GDP, out of pocket, malnutrition, and the rates of adolescent fertility. That is, the medical, economic, social, and environmental factors were reported as those influencing the healthy issues in these countries. Moreover, except for upper middle average income Muslim countries, the health conditions of homogenous groups of income ( i.e. low income, lower-middle-income, middle-income and high-income) have been improved by reducing the rate of teen childbearing variables (social development) and risk of malnutrition (living conditions), though they have not been affected by these two factors. The implications of this study discussed the growing income trend with increasing GDP per capita and the ratio of health spending to gdp (economic inputs), and this fact, in turn, shows the effects of the economic inputs on the improvement of health status in Muslim countries.
Keywords
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