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Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World (2003)

Chapter: Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
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Appendix B
Defining Developing Countries

The report uses the term developing countries to describe those countries with per capita incomes in 2001 that averaged less than $9,206. These countries are further subdivided into four groups: low income, $745 or less; lower middle income, $746-2,975; upper middle income, $2,976-9,205; and high income, $9,206 or more. Developed countries include those in which per capita incomes in 2001 averaged more than $9,206. The different countries are developing at their own rates and have different capacities and challenges in providing health care services to their populations.

Developing countries tend to share a number of the following characteristics:

  • Low GDP per capita: In most developing countries, a serious disparity exists between increasing population size and low industrial and agricultural productivity. This situation is often aggravated by heavy external indebtedness, restricted access to global markets, and insecure prices of exportable raw commodities.

  • Young populations: The pyramidal age structure in most developing countries has a very broad base, due to the relative and absolute predominance of young people, and a narrow tip.

  • High infant mortality and low life expectancy: Although both indicators have moderated over the last decade, the vital statistics of a majority of the developing countries still lag behind the so-called developed world.

  • Epidemiological transition: While communicable diseases and mal-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×

nutrition remain prime causes of morbidity in developing countries, the incidence of noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes is increasing, creating a double burden of disease.

  • Weak health care infrastructure: A shortage of skilled health care workers plagues most developing countries, where the relatively few medical professionals tend to be concentrated in urban areas. Health expenditure per capita in developing countries is typically a fraction of that in the developing world.

  • Social unrest and violent conflict: The subsequent disruption to and loss of infrastructure reduces the availability of health services. Additionally, the attention and funds for social services and health care are diverted to military and defense efforts.

  • Other features: Many, but not all, developing countries also suffer the following disadvantages: low literacy rates, especially among women; predominantly traditional, rural forms of social organization; extreme climates; frequent natural catastrophes such as drought, floods, and famine; large-scale population displacement; epidemic rates of HIV/AIDS.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×

BOX B-1
Classification of Countries by Per Capita Income

Developing Countries

Low Income

East Asia & Pacific

Cambodia

Indonesia

Korea, Dem. Rep.

Lao PDR

Mongolia

Myanmar

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

Timor-Leste

Vietnam

Europe & Central Asia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Georgia

Kyrgyz Republic

Moldova

Tajikistan

Ukraine

Uzbekistan

Latin America & Caribbean

Haiti

Nicaragua

Middle East & North Africa

Yemen, Rep.

South Asia

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

India

Nepal

Pakistan

Sub-Saharan Africa

Angola

Benin

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo, Dem. Rep.

Congo, Rep.

Côte d’Ivoire

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gambia, The

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mozambique

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

São Tomé and Principe

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Somalia

Sudan

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Lower middle income

East Asia & Pacific

China

Fiji

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia, Fed. Sts.

Philippines

Samoa

Thailand

Tonga

Vanuatu

Europe & Central Asia

Albania

Belarus

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Kazakhstan

Macedonia, FYR

Romania

Russian Federation

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep.

Latin America & Caribbean

Belize

Bolivia

Colombia

Cuba

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Guatemala

Guyana

Honduras

Jamaica

Paraguay

Peru

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×

Middle East & North Africa

Algeria

Djibouti

Egypt, Arab Rep.

Iran, Islamic Rep.

Iraq

Jordan

Morocco

Syrian Arab Republic

Tunisia

West Bank and Gaza

South Asia

Maldives

Sri Lanka

Sub-Saharan Africa

Cape Verde

Namibia

South Africa

Swaziland

Upper Middle Income

East Asia & Pacific

American Samoa

Malaysia

Palau

Europe & Central Asia

Croatia

Czech Republic

Estonia

Hungary

Isle of Man

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Slovak Republic

Latin America & Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Barbados

Brazil

Chile

Costa Rica

Dominica

Grenada

Mexico

Panama

Puerto Rico

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

Trinidad and Tobago

Uruguay

Venezuela, RB

Middle East & North Africa

Lebanon

Libya

Malta

Oman

Saudi Arabia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Botswana

Gabon

Mauritius

Mayotte

Seychelles

High Income: Non-OECD

Andorra

Aruba

Bahamas, The

Bahrain

Bermuda

Brunei

Cayman Islands

Channel Islands

Cyprus

Faeroe Islands

French Polynesia

Greenland

Guam

Hong Kong, China

Israel

Kuwait

Liechtenstein

Macao, China

Monaco

Netherlands Antilles

New Caledonia

Northern Mariana Islands

Qatar

San Marino

Singapore

Slovenia

United Arab Emirates

Virgin Islands (U.S.)

High Income: OECD

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Korea, Rep.

Luxembourg

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Portugal

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

United States

SOURCE: World Bank, 2001.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×
Page 305
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×
Page 306
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×
Page 307
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×
Page 308
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Defining Developing Countries." Institute of Medicine. 2003. Improving Birth Outcomes: Meeting the Challenge in the Developing World. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10841.
×
Page 309
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Birth outcomes have improved dramatically worldwide in the past 40 years. Yet there is still a large gap between the outcomes in developing and developed countries. This book addresses the steps needed to reduce that gap. It reviews the available statistics of low birth weight, prematurity, and birth defects; reviews current knowledge and practices of a healthy pregnancy, identifies cost-effective opportunities for improving birth outcomes and supporting families with an infant handicapped by birth problems, and recommens priority research, capacity building, and institutional and global efforts to reduce adverse birth outcomes in developing countries. The committee has based its study on data and information from several developing countries, and provides recommendations that can assist the March of Dimes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and NIH in tailoring their international program and forging new partnerships to reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with adverse birth outcomes.

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