Global health remains a worldwide collection of problems. There is to date no agreed-upon definition of the boundaries of topics meaningfully examined under this rubric. This book acknowledges the importance of understanding the problems routinely classified under this rubric as well as the limitations of international health as a framework. The book comprises a series of vivid first person accounts in which physicians, epidemiologists, health workers, and public health professionals from around the world present the critical dilemmas and challenges facing the field. The chapters in this book ... More

Global health remains a worldwide collection of problems. There is to date no agreed-upon definition of the boundaries of topics meaningfully examined under this rubric. This book acknowledges the importance of understanding the problems routinely classified under this rubric as well as the limitations of international health as a framework. The book comprises a series of vivid first person accounts in which physicians, epidemiologists, health workers, and public health professionals from around the world present the critical dilemmas and challenges facing the field. The chapters in this book are grounded in nine geographically distinct settings and collectively offer a history of international health that situates place-based studies in broad context, while conveying the vividness of experiences told through first-person accounts. Many of the topics addressed in the book reflect four recurring themes. These are: moving beyond the medicalization of health; considering the geopolitics of health; adopting a case-based approach; and taking a hard look at the ethics of practice.