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.

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.

Figures and Tables ix

The Authors xiii

Introduction: An Overview of Global Health xv

Part 1 The Basics of Global Health 1

1 A Very Brief History of Global Health Policy 3

Key Ideas 3

Health and Public Policy Through the Twentieth Century 4

The Age of Global Health Policy 11

The Fall of Global Governance 16

The Millennium Development Goals 19

An Alternative History 21

Love and Health in Modern Times 25

Summary 27

Key Terms 27

Discussion Questions 27

Further Reading 28

References 28

2 Case Studies in Development and Health 31

Key Ideas 31

The Puzzle of Good Development for Health 33

The Next Superpowers? Taking a Closer Look at Middle-Income Countries 37

Growth-Mediated Models 40

Support-Led Models 41

Toward a Happy Medium? 43

China's Explosive Growth 45

Kerala's Quality of Life 49

Chile Aims for a Balancing Act 52

Summary 56

Key Terms 56

Discussion Questions 56

Further Reading 57

References 57

Part 2 Global Health and the Art of Policy Making 61

3 The Global Burden of Disease 63

Key Ideas 63

Who Dies Where? 64

Counting Global Deaths (with an Eye Toward Saving Lives) 69

Dead Children Make for Bad Statistics 73

The Health Effects of Evil Genies 74

Quantifying the Global Burden of Disease 77

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis 81

Summary 83

Key Terms 84

Discussion Questions 84

Further Reading 84

References 84

4 Aid 87

Key Ideas 87

Different Types of Aid 88

The Aid Controversy 91

Models of Global Aid for Public Health 92

Argument: Aid Is Harmful 95

Argument: Aid Is Poorly Managed 97

Argument: Aid Is Misused 99

Argument: Aid Further Consolidates Power for the Powerful 101

Argument: All Is Well, Just Send More 102

Argument: We Are Making Progress, But the Hurdles Are High 102

Summary 104

Key Terms 105

Discussion Questions 105

Further Reading 106

References 106

5 Health Systems 109

Key Ideas 109

Health Care Delivery Systems 111

Health Care Payments 114

Health Care Markets 116

Health Care Delivery Systems in High-Income Countries 117

Health Care Delivery Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 124

Pharmaceutical Spending 132

What Makes Us Healthy? 134

Summary 138

Key Terms 138

Discussion Questions 139

Further Reading 139

References 139

6 Social Policy and Global Health 143

Key Ideas 143

How Policies Are Made 144

Political Economy and Health 151

Lessons for Health-Optimizing Social Policies 164

Summary 165

Key Terms 166

Discussion Questions 166

Further Reading 166

References 166

7 A Closer Look at Three Political Economies: China, Kerala, and Chile 169

Key Ideas 169

China: Sustainable State of Development? 170

Kerala: Experiments with Radical Decentralization 176

Chile: A Precarious Third Way 181

Summary 190

Discussion Questions 190

Further Reading 191

References 191

8 Global Governance and Health 193

Key Ideas 193

The World Health Organization 194

The World Trade Organization 197

An Evolution of Global Governance 200

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