Health Without Borders


Book Description

This book discusses globalization and its impact on human health. The population of the world grew from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion in 2012, and over the past 50 years the mean temperature has risen faster than ever before. Both factors continue to rise, as well as health inequalities. Our environment is changing rapidly, with tremendous consequences for our health. These changes produce complex and constantly varying interactions between the biosphere, economy, climate and human health, forcing us to approach future global health trends from a new perspective. Preventive actions to improve health, especially in low-income countries, are essential if our future is going to be a sustainable one. After a period of undeniable improvement in the health of the world’s population, this improvement is likely to slow down and we will experience– at least locally – crises of the same magnitude as have been observed in financial markets since 2009. There is instability in health systems, which will worsen if preventive and buffering mechanisms do not take on a central role. We cannot exclude the possibility that the allied forces of poverty, social inequalities, climate change, industrial food and lack of governance will lead to a deterioration in the health of large sectors of the population. In low-income countries, while many of the traditional causes of death (infectious diseases) are still highly prevalent, other threats typical of affluent societies (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases) are increasing. Africa is not only affected by malaria, TB and HIV, but also by skyrocketing rates of cancer. The book argues that the current situation requires effective and coordinated multinational interventions guided by the principle of health as a common good. An entirely competition-driven economy cannot – by its very nature – address global challenges that require full international cooperation. A communal global leadership is called for. Paolo Vineis is Chair of Environmental Epidemiology at Imperial College. His current research activities focus on examining biomarkers of disease risk as well as studying the effects of climate change on non-communicable diseases. “From morality to molecules, environment to equity, climate change to cancer, and politics to pathology, this is a wonderful tour of global health – consistently presented in a clear, readable format. Really, an important contribution.” Professor Sir Michael Marmot Director, Institute of Health Equity University College London Author of “The Health Gap” “This book is a salutary and soundly argued reminder that the ‘common good’ is not simply what remains after individuals and groups have appropriated the majority of societal resources: it is in fact the foundation on which any society rests and without which it collapses.” Rodolfo Saracci, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France




SARS, Governance and the Globalization of Disease


Book Description

SARS, Governance and the Globalization of Disease provides a comprehensive and original analysis of the historic global SARS outbreak of 2003. David P. Fidler constructs a political pathology of the SARS outbreak, analyzes the government responses to it, places these responses in historical context and assesses the implications of the successful management of the outbreak for handling future pathogenic threats that will arise. The book includes a detailed description of the outbreak and governance responses to it, as well as a focused analysis of China's role in the outbreak.




Global Health and the Future Role of the United States


Book Description

While much progress has been made on achieving the Millenium Development Goals over the last decade, the number and complexity of global health challenges has persisted. Growing forces for globalization have increased the interconnectedness of the world and our interdependency on other countries, economies, and cultures. Monumental growth in international travel and trade have brought improved access to goods and services for many, but also carry ongoing and ever-present threats of zoonotic spillover and infectious disease outbreaks that threaten all. Global Health and the Future Role of the United States identifies global health priorities in light of current and emerging world threats. This report assesses the current global health landscape and how challenges, actions, and players have evolved over the last decade across a wide range of issues, and provides recommendations on how to increase responsiveness, coordination, and efficiency â€" both within the U.S. government and across the global health field.




Contagion and Chaos


Book Description

An analysis of infectious disease as a threat to national security that examines the destabilizing effects of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, SARS, and Mad Cow Disease. Historians from Thucydides to William McNeill have pointed to the connections between disease and civil society. Political scientists have investigated the relationship of public health to governance, introducing the concept of health security. In Contagion and Chaos, Andrew Price-Smith offers the most comprehensive examination yet of disease through the lens of national security. Extending the analysis presented in his earlier book The Health of Nations, Price-Smith argues that epidemic disease represents a direct threat to the power of a state, eroding prosperity and destabilizing both its internal politics and its relationships with other states. He contends that the danger of an infectious pathogen to national security depends on lethality, transmissability, fear, and economic damage. Moreover, warfare and ecological change contribute to the spread of disease and act as “disease amplifiers.” Price-Smith presents a series of case studies to illustrate his argument: the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-19 (about which he advances the controversial claim that the epidemic contributed to the defeat of Germany and Austria); HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa (he contrasts the worst-case scenario of Zimbabwe with the more stable Botswana); bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as mad cow disease); and the SARS contagion of 2002-03. Emerging infectious disease continues to present a threat to national and international security, Price-Smith argues, and globalization and ecological change only accelerate the danger.




AIDS in the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

Essential reading for social and medical scientists and all those interested in infectious diseases and public health, AIDS and the Twenty-First Century examines the social and economic origins and impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV/AIDS is not only a medical problem. It is an indication of the scale of the global crisis in public health. Accessibly written, this book is necessary reading for policymakers, students and all those who are concerned about the relationship between poverty, inequality and infectious diseases.




Global Health in the 21st Century


Book Description

Perhaps no other public policy issue has greater potential to affect some of the most significant economic, political, social, and ethical changes of the 21st century than global health. In this book, a scholar/physician team authors a comprehensive introduction to global health issues and emphasises the potential of public health intervention to improve the longevity and quality of human life across the globe. The authors have lived and worked in Africa as well as in medically underserved areas of the United States, so they write with firsthand experience and authority. Using themes of interconnectedness, globalisation, and united concern from citizens, this book encourages readers to consider the role that they might play as engaged citizens in taking on the global public health challenges of the 21st century including everything from AIDs and flu to tobacco, obesity, and threats in conflict zones.




Infectious Disease Movement in a Borderless World


Book Description

Modern transportation allows people, animals, and plants-and the pathogens they carry-to travel more easily than ever before. The ease and speed of travel, tourism, and international trade connect once-remote areas with one another, eliminating many of the geographic and cultural barriers that once limited the spread of disease. Because of our global interconnectedness through transportation, tourism and trade, infectious diseases emerge more frequently; spread greater distances; pass more easily between humans and animals; and evolve into new and more virulent strains. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted the workshop "Globalization, Movement of Pathogens (and Their Hosts) and the Revised International Health Regulations" December 16-17, 2008 in order to explore issues related to infectious disease spread in a "borderless" world. Participants discussed the global emergence, establishment, and surveillance of infectious diseases; the complex relationship between travel, trade, tourism, and the spread of infectious diseases; national and international policies for mitigating disease movement locally and globally; and obstacles and opportunities for detecting and containing these potentially wide-reaching and devastating diseases. This document summarizes the workshop.




International Law and Infectious Diseases


Book Description

The intersection between international law and infectious diseases is the subject of this book. The globalization of public health and related international law, the International Health Regulations, and international law on trade, human rights, and armed conflict are among




Plagues and Politics


Book Description

Infectious diseases once thought to be controlled (such as malaria and tuberculosis) are now spreading rapidly across the globe, and lethal new disease agents (HIV/AIDS, ebola and BSE) continue to emerge at an ominous pace. Policymakers must consider the implications of disease proliferation for economic prosperity, general well-being, and national security in affected societies. This work represents a collection of articles from the premier authors in the field on the ramifications of disease emergence for international development, international law, and national security.