Public Health: An Action Guide to Improving Health in Developing Countries

Many of the health problems in the developing world can be tackled or prevented through public health measures such as essential health care, improving living conditions, water, sanitation, nutrition, immunization and the adoption of healthy lifestyles. This book is an action guide to improving public/community health in low-income countries. It is unique in its comprehensive coverage within the public health framework. It explains how you can use public health approaches to develop effective health services to promote health and prevent disease. Practical methods are given for assessing health needs and working within communities to develop and evaluate district and community-based health services. Clear language is used to describe key skills in chapters on epidemiology, managing medicines, communicable disease control, mother and child epidemiology, health promotion, health financing, managing and implementing public health programmes. Issues such as appropriate health policy, social-inequalities, gender and power relationships are explored in an approach which places the participation and empowerment of communities at the core of an effective response. The challenge for public health professionals is to work within health services to monitor disease and ill health and to ensure good access to effective and appropriate health care for all. The challenge is to work outside the health services with other agencies to tackle the wider determinants of poverty and ill-health. Today's public health professionals need a broad focus and an armoury of skills from epidemiology and needs assessment health planning, medicines management and intersectional working. This book provides a foundation for public health professionals in training as well as those in practice. It is directed at health professionals working in developing countries and managing provincial and district health services. These services may be general health services or specific programmes, such as TB or AIDS. It will be useful for undergraduates during their community and public health courses. The authors use real examples, illustrations and case histories to bring this important subject to life for the reader.

Table of Contents:
John Walley: What is Public Health?; John Wright: Epidemiology in practice; John Wright: Assessing health needs; John Walley: Choosing the best public health interventions; Sophie Witter: Health economics and funding interventions: what health economics can contribute; John Hubley: Managing and implementing interventions; John Walley and Sarah Escott: Developing a district health service; John Hubley: Health promotion; John Walley: Maternal and child health; Kathy Holloway: Managing medicines; Martin Schweiger: Communicable Disease Control; John Wright: Future trends in global public health

About the Author :
John Hubley BSc PhD is Senior Lecturer in Health Education and Promotion at Leeds Metropolitan University. He divides his time between teaching, consulting and writing. He has experience in health education and health promotion programmes in over twenty countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East. He is the author of scientific papers and two books - 'Communicating Health - an action guide to health education and health promotion' and 'The AIDS Handbook'. Dr John Walley MBBS, DRCOG, MRCGP, DTM&H, MComH, MFPHM is a public health medicine specialist, with 16 years' experience in international health development. As a medical officer of health for a province in Zimbabwe he developed PHC and district health services. In a region of Ethiopia he implemented integrated mother and child health and TB programmes. He has been a WHO AIDS consultant and national training advisor in Vietnam (where he met his wife Sophie). As a senior lecturer at the Nuffield Institute in Leeds, he teaches malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, IMCI and district health services on the MPH course, and is the director of a TB research and development programme. Professor John Wright BSc MB ChB MRCP MPH MFPHM is a Consultant in Public Health and Associate Medical Director at Bradford Royal Infirmary, and Visiting Professor in Clinical Epidemiology at Bradford University. After working as a clinician in Asia and Southern Africa he trained in public health medicine in the UK. He has developed particular expertise in clinical epidemiology and quality in health care while maintaining clinical interests in TB. He has established ongoing health links and public health programmes between hospitals in the UK, Pakistan and Swaziland. He is married with three daughters.

Review :
The authors tackle the daunting field of public health with verve and intelligence... a very practical and readable work... a reliable and realistic introduction to the subject of helping to improve the health of all our communities. Tropical Doctor