Final answer:
The statement is false because high gross national income (GNI) is not a direct measure of health. A country's health status is influenced by numerous factors that go beyond economic wealth, including healthcare, education, and lifestyle.
Step-by-step explanation:
While gross national income (GNI) does measure the wealth of a nation and is used by the World Bank to classify nations according to economic status, it is not a direct indicator of a country's health status. GNI per capita allows classification of countries into different economic statuses: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. However, a high GNI per capita does not automatically equate to a healthier population. Health is affected by numerous factors including availability and quality of healthcare, education, environmental conditions, and lifestyle choices. Some nations with high GNI may face issues like capital flight and deindustrialization, while others might support public health despite having a lower GNI.
Therefore, the statement that the healthiest countries are those with the highest GNI is not accurate. There are different measures to assess health, such as life expectancy, infant mortality rate, and access to clean water which play significant roles in determining the health of a country.