Letter

How should health be defined?

Why the definition of health matters

BMJ 2009; 338 doi: 10.1136/bmj.b28 (Published 9 January 2009)
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b28

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

  1. Peter G Davies, GP principal1
  1. 1Keighley Road Surgery, Halifax HX2 9LL
  1. npgdavies{at}blueyonder.co.uk

    The definition of health is important.1 There is a biomedical component to health, but it exists in a setting that includes biological, personal, relational, social, and political factors.2 3

    For too long, we as doctors have been timid about defining health, and mostly operated at the level of “absence of disease.” For too …

    Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment

    Subscribe

    Article access

    Article access for 1 day

    Purchase this article for £20 $30 €32*

    The PDF version can be downloaded as your personal record

    * Prices do not include VAT

    Rapid responses

    THIS WEEK'S POLL

    BMJ most popular