-The editor and his contributors are prestigious in the global health community, many holding positions as affiliated with the World Health Organization. Also, Gunn is a head of the Society for Humanitarian Medicine.

-Will appeal as a high level policy book in public health and health courses.

Contents Introduction Section I: Fundamentals 1. A brief history of advances towards health John Last 2. The health, poverty and development merry-go-round: the tribulations of WHO Socrates Litsios 3. Old and new pestilences Andrew A. Arata 4. Value systems and healthcare ethics Bernard M. Dickens 5. World health: a mobilizing utopia? M. Manciaux T. M. Fliedner Section II: Systems 6. Health policies versus public policies Andrzej Wojtczak 7. A medicine based on evidence J. Szczerban 8. The promise of technology P. B. Mansourian 9. Critical inquiries on technology utilization Arminee Kazanjian 10. Therapeutic patient education for chronic diseases Jean-Philippe Assal Section III: The Dynamics 11. The humanitarian imperative in major health crises and disasters S. W. A. Gunn 12. Dealing with global infectious disease emergencies David L. Heymann 13. Knowledge-based methodologies in the health sector B. McA. Sayers Juan J. Angulo 14. Food safety a pressing public health and economic issue Fritz Käferstein 15. Future health in an ageing world A. Michael Davies Section IV: The Controversies 16. Disease and health in the cultural context Assen Jablensky 17. Global issues and health interactions: reflexions from the south A. P. R. Aluwihare 18. The coming storm: health system planning versus free market enterprise Anthony Piel 19. Education, understanding, and eudaemonia: a contrarian view on global health Gerhard W. Brauer Postscript 'The Present and the Future of Global Health' A. Michael Davies The Contributors Index