As humans remain different in nature, so are their perceptions and response towards certain issues of their lives and well-being. The concept of health assumes to be a typical example of this and hence, poses debate about what it is. “Health” is a word which means different things to different people the positive approach, where health is viewed as a capacity or an asset and the negative approach, which emphasizes the absence of illness, diseases or disorders. “Health” as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) is ‘the state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease.

This definition, as well as emphasizing health in a positive sense, is significant in stressing mental as well as physical aspects of health, and social as well as individual well being. This would be viewed as an ideal towards which health care and other social actions may be orientated. In terms of the negative aspect of health, an individual is regarded as healthy when not suffering from a particular illness or disease. Though “illness” and “disease” are used interchangeably, they are different. Disease relates to biological malfunctioning, diagnosed by doctors, while illness refers both to the personal experience of the disease and its social implications. Therefore the negative concept of health is closely associated with orthodox medicine.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) later redefined health in 1984 as “the extent to which an individual or group is able on one hand to realize aspirations and satisfy needs; and, on the other hand, to change or cope with the environment. Health is therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”