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There is growing interest and concern about the unacceptable differentials in health between and within countries. This comes out of the realization that poor people will only be able to prosper, and emerge from poverty, if they enjoy better health. Healthy populations are a precondition for sustainable development. Using a novel combination of the personal studies of patients and description of conditions or diseases, this book provides a highly original and accessible introduction to key issues in global health today.
Especially during the past decade, global health initiatives have become a prominent part of the international aid picture, bringing new resources, political commitment, and more attention for international health issues in the media. The author provides examples of diseases and problems related to health that disproportionally impact the poor, and gives their experiences 'a human face' through individual case studies. A specific case study of a health problem, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV or health financing, introduces each chapter and is followed by a historical review of the problem, why it is still now a problem for poor people or poor countries, and what can be done about it.
Foreword by Princess Zahra Aga Khan# ## Acknowledgements### 1. The Poor Have No Face, No Voice 2. Lamin - Roll back Malaria 3. Pendo - Safe Motherhood 4. Kaddy - Family Planning 5. Maimuna - Cervical Cancer## 6. Ramesh - TB and HIV 7. Neelum and Sifat - Water and Sanitation 8. Ousman - Neglected Tropical Diseases 9. Hassan - Undernutrition 10. Mariama - New Diseases of Poverty 11. Helena - Health Financing 12. Sanam - Cross-Border Health Care# 13. Revisiting Alma Ata Glossary Index
Gijs Walraven, MD MPH PhD, is Director of Community Health at the Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan in Aiglemont, France and Visiting Professor of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. He has worked for more than 20 years in health care provision, management and research, mainly in Africa and Asia.
"This is a little masterpiece, which covers huge territory and a difficult subject area with great aplomb. It deals with diseases of poverty through the lens of someone who not only knows but feels the pain and anguish that inequity and broken health systems bring in their wake. A must read for any serious student of global health, especially those willing to do something about it."
– Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Husein Lalji Dewraj Professor & Founding Chair, Division of Women & Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
"Gijs Walraven provides a compelling account of the ways in which many of the major health problems of the developing world and poverty interact, building in an imaginative way on his personal experience acquired during many years of work in Africa and Asia."
– Sir Brian Greenwood, Manson Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
"This work, based on study, experience and conviction, is informative and comprehensive, and deserves to be read and discussed by anyone interested in global health."
– From the Foreword by Princess Zahra Aga Khan
"[A]n engaging, well-written introduction to the health challenges of the poor around the world."
– CHOICE
