What is Health?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, 2018).
There are several arguments against WHO's current definition of health which has not been amended since its implementation in 1948. I would say a lot has changed since then, wouldn't you?
One of the biggest criticisms of the WHO definition is the absoluteness of the word "complete" in relation to overall well-being (Huber, M. 2011).
To define health as a state of "complete" physical, mental and social well-being is simply unrealistic. The majority of our population lives with some form of disease, illness or impairment in which case "health is not the norm but an anomalous state, and only a tiny fraction of the world's population could meet the WHO's exacting standard" (McGrail, K. 2016).
Further, WHO's current definition of health does not take into account the prevalence of chronic disease amongst our population. Despite the presence of disease, individuals are living longer and are still able to maintain quality of life.
French Physician, Georges Canguilhem states that "health is not a fixed entity" (The Lancet, 2009) and that health is "the ability to adapt to one's environment" (The Lancet, 2009). He argues that health should be defined by the individual person not the doctor, and "the role of the doctor is to help the individual adapt to their unique prevailing conditions" (The Lancet, 2009).
A more current definition of health states that “health is a state of balance, an equilibrium that an individual has established within himself and between himself and his social and physical environment” (Sartorius, N. 2006). The advantage of this definition “is that diseases do not replace individuals’ health” (Sartorius, N. 2006). This allows people to be considered healthy despite the presence of disease based on their “ability to establish an internal equilibrium that makes them get the most they can from their life” (Sartorius, N. 2006).
There are many factors that need to be considered before determining whether or not an individual is "healthy". Health is multidimensional and varies for every individual, and across societies and different cultures.
The question is can we determine what health is in a definition? Arguments have been made that we should move away from a definition of health, and towards a general concept or conceptual framework of health (Huber, M. 2011).
References
Huber, M. (2011). Health: How should we define it? British Medical Journal, 343, (7817), 235-237. Retrieved from
McGrail, K. (2016). The chronic disease explosion: artificial bang or empirical whimper? British Medical Journal, 352, (i1312). Retrieved from
Sartorius, N. (2006). The Meanings of Health and its Promotion. Croatian Medical Journal, 47(4): 662-664. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2080455/
What is health? The ability to adapt. (2009). The Lancet, 373, (9666), 781. Retrieved from
World Health Organization (WHO). (2018). Constitution of WHO: principles. Retrieved from