Author Description

Virtually every school of public health teaches a global health course, yet the major textbooks provide little on the actual practice of international health. This new 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. Aimed primarily at medical and public health students and professionals, this book will be a much-needed addition to the existing literature. Related fields, such as development and urban studies, will find this book an engaging introduction to the core issues of international development. International health practitioners, national and local policymakers, foundations officers, and other related professionals will also find it an invaluable compendium. The Practice of International Health is a beautifully conceived and beautifully written book. It offers an inspiring example of what may be accomplished when scholars with field experience break free of rigid disciplinary boundaries in order to examine key problems in international health. This case-based approach is precisely the one that will allow us to build a new field based on broad understandings of these problems and on the solutions that might follow. The need for and vibrant potential of such a focus on practice that resonates in every page of this book signals its profound relevance to students and teachers of public health, and, one hopes, to policy makers and funders.