Introducing Global Health: Practice, Policy, and Solutions

Introducing Global Health: Practice, Policy, and Solutions is a contemporary overview of the major issues in global public health. The book explores how population health might be maximized with the right blend of health system, education, antipoverty, infectious disease, urban development, governance, and incentive-based policies. It covers topics critical for understanding the state of the world today, including wars for natural resources, the missing women phenomenon, and whether global aid really works. The book's case studies focus on developing economies, mixed economies, and new emerging superpowers. Thematic chapters are interwoven with running motifs, such as the health risks and benefits associated with different totalitarian, capitalist, and market socialist economies. Moving beyond statistics, the book represents a major innovation in the teaching of global health by presenting technical concepts including the incidence and prevalence of disease within the context of more accessible topics such as global poverty. This helps students contextualize otherwise challenging but critical concepts, such as the burden of infectious disease.

By encouraging reflection, focusing on what works, and using activities and exercises, Introducing Global Health both teaches fundamentals of global public health and cultivates a policy perspective that is appealing and compelling for today's students.

Peter Muennig, MD, MPH, is associate professor of health policy and management at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, New York. He cofounded the Burmese Refugee Pro- ject, has consulted for various governments, and has won a national teaching award in public health.

Celina Su, PhD, is associate professor of political science at the City University of New York. She has written two books on education policy and politics, cofounded the Burmese Refugee Project, and she is a steering committee member of New York City's participatory budgeting. Her honors include the Berlin Prize.

Figures and Tables

Introduction: An Overview of Global Health

The Authors

Part 1: The Basics of Global Health

Chapter 1 A Very Brief History of Global Health Policy

Key Ideas

Health and Public Policy through the Twentieth Century

The Age of Global Health Policy

The Millennium Development Goals

An Alternative History

Love and Health in Modern Times

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 2 Case Studies in Development and Health

Key Ideas

The Puzzle of “Good” Development for Health

Growth-Mediated Models

Support-Led Models

Toward a Happy Medium?

China’s Explosive Growth

Kerala’s Quality of Life

Chile Aims for a Balancing Act

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Part 2: Global Health and the Art of Policy Making

Chapter 3 The Global Burden of Disease

Key Ideas

Who Dies Where?

Counting Global Deaths (with an Eye toward Saving Lives)

Dead Children Make for Bad Statistics

The Health Effects of Evil Genies

Quantifying the Global Burden of Disease

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 4 Aid

Key Ideas

Different Types of Aid

The Aid Controversy

Models of Global Aid for Public Health

Argument: Aid Is Harmful

Argument: Aid Is Poorly Managed

Argument: Aid Is Misused

Argument: “Aid” Further Consolidates Power for the Powerful

Argument: All Is Well, Just Send More

The Tense Relationships between Donors and Recipients

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 5 Health Systems

Key Ideas

Health Care Delivery Systems

Health Care Payments

Health Care Markets

Health Care Delivery Systems in High-Income Countries

Health Care Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Pharmaceutical Spending

What Makes Us Healthy?

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 6 Social Policy and Global Health

Key Ideas

How Policies Are Made

Political Economy and Health in Low-Income Countries

Lessons for Health-Optimizing Social Policies

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 7 A Closer Look at Three Political Economies: China, Kerala, and Chile

Key Ideas

China: Sustainable State of Development?

Kerala Experiments with Radical Decentralization

Chile: A Precarious Third Way

Summary

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 8 Global Governance and Health

Key Ideas

The World Health Organization

The World Trade Organization

An Evolution of Global Governance

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Part 3: Key Challenges in Global Health

Chapter 9 Poverty

Key Ideas

Income and Health across Nations

Definitions of Poverty

Why Do We Worry about Poverty in Public Health?

Poverty in Less-Developed Nations

Poverty and Health among Wealthy Nations

The Complexities of Poverty

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 10 The Physical Environment and Disease

Key Ideas

Infectious Disease and Development

Malaria and Other Mosquito-Borne Illnesses

Air Pollution and Health

Outer-Ring Development and Health

Climate Change and Health

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 11 The Social Environment and Disease

Key Ideas

The Ultimate Trifecta: Race, Class, and Gender

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Tuberculosis

Individual Risk Behaviors, Urban Planning, and Health

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 12  Globalization, Internal Conflict, and the Resource Curse

Key Ideas

Globalization and Health

Spillover Effects of Poor Global Governance

Civil Conflict as a Public Health Problem

Resource Curses and Civil Conflict

Natural Resources and Civil War

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Chapter 13 Frontiers in Global Health

Key Ideas

The Many Levels of Health

Tidings, Good or Bad, Come in Clusters

Working with the System

A Rise in Targeted Social Policy Interventions

Innovations in Administration and Governance

Lessons on Social Policy Interventions

Summary

Key Terms

Discussion Questions

Further Reading

References

Name Index

Subject Index

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