Folkhälsa och välfärd - En litteraturbaserad studie om hälsans betydelse för ekonomisk tillväxt
HälsaEkonomisk tillväxtHöginkomstländerFörväntad livslängdHealthEconomic growthHigh-income countriesLife expectancy
The interest in the significance of public health for economic growth has increasedsteadily in recent years and a clarification of this connection may be of importance forthe status of public health. Aim: The aim of this literature based study is to describewhat previous research has shown in terms of the connection between public health andeconomic growth, focusing on high-income countries. Method: The study is based ontwelve scholarly articles retrieved from four scholarly databases. Result: The resultclarify that there is a positive long-term correlation between good public health andeconomic growth in high-income countries. Good health has a positive effect onproductivity, which leads to increased economic growth. The effect of good healthvaries depending on which variables were selected to investigate and what stage of thedemographic transition the selected society is in. Discussion: Depending on severalfactors, including the selected variables and method of analysis, the relationshipbetween public health and the economic growth of societies look slightly different. Theeffects of good health are furthermore dependent on the level of income of theinvestigated countries, resulting in a less uniform correlation between good health andeconomic growth. The consolidated results still show clear evidence of that good publichealth is important for economic growth.