Global Health Studies

When People Come First

A people-centered approach to global health When People Come First critically assesses the expanding field of global health. It brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars to address the medical, social, political, and economic dimensions of the global health enterprise through vivid case studies and bold conceptual work. The book demonstrates the crucial role of ethnography as an empirical lantern in global health, arguing for a more comprehensive, people-centered approach. Topics include the limits of technological quick fixes in disease control, the moral economy of global health science, the unexpected effects of massive treatment rollouts in resource-poor contexts, and how right-to-health activism coalesces with the increased influence of the pharmaceutical industry on health care. The contributors explore the altered landscapes left behind after programs scale up, break down, or move on. We learn that disease is really never just one thing, technology delivery does not equate with care, and biology and technology interact in ways we cannot always predict. The most effective solutions may well be found in people themselves, who consistently exceed the projections of experts and the medical-scientific, political, and humanitarian frameworks in which they are cast. When People Come First sets a new research agenda in global health and social theory and challenges us to rethink the relationships between care, rights, health, and economic futures.

Global Health Studies

A global view of health offers a richer understanding of ways of measuring, improving and sustaining health both in individual national settings and in the context of a strongly interconnected world. This book draws on social scientific insights and explanations to examine trends in global health. Moving beyond an epidemiological analysis, the authors use a social determinants framework and life course approaches to offer a critical introduction to the study of global health. Through individual chapters focusing on topics such as health policy, global governance, health systems and health-related protests, the authors present the scope of global health studies and introduce readers to broader ranging issues such as globalization and political forces. Key themes such as power, inequality and inequity - and their impact on health on a global scale - recur throughout the book. International examples and case studies are used to illustrate the discussion, which is further supported by opportunities for reflection and further reading. This book will be an important resource for students studying global health and will have broad relevance to those undertaking health, health-related and allied health professional courses.

Introduction to Global Health