SOCI 234 Chapter Notes - Chapter reading: Sub-Saharan Africa
16 Mar 2019
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Omran"s theory is an attempt to account for the extraordinary advances in health care in industrialized countries since the 18th century. At the time the theory was being developed, specialists and the un experts saw life expectancies as generally converging towards a maximum age. According to the un 75 years old was the convergence. The cardiovascular revolution of the 1970s saw a new period of progress. Today the 85 year threshold is strongly criticized by people who believe that the limit cannot be determined. The least developed countries were gaining control over infectious diseases and seemed to be rapidly catching up with the most advanced countries. What was most feared at the time was that some of the gains in life expectancy might be lost due to the increase in man made diseases caused by smoking or car accidents, for example.
