"Here are highlights from Paul Farmers' speeches to a variety of audiences, from Princeton to Harvard to Notre Dame to Berkeley. Paul is a rock star of the academy who has a large following among many groups: students, doctors, general readers, activists, public health folks, professors. He is the pied piper of everyone who wants to change the world. Not only is he cofounder of Partners In Health,US Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti,head of social medicine...

"An intimate, heart wrenching portrait of one small hospital that reveals the magnitude of America's health care crises. By following the struggle for survival of one small-town hospital, and the patients who walk, or are carried, through its doors, The Hospital takes readers into the world of the American medical industry in a way no book has done before. Americans are dying sooner, and living in poorer health. Alexander argues that no plan will...

"Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward campaign organized millions of Chinese peasants into communes in a misguided attempt to rapidly collectivize agriculture with disastrous effects. Catastrophic famine lingered as the global cholera pandemic of the early 1960s spread rampantly through the infected waters of southeastern coastal China. Confronted with a political crisis and the seventh global cholera pandemic in recorded history, the communist government...

The immune system is highly complex, it senses foreign invaders, thus protecting the body. The adaptive arm of the immune system confers long-term protection, whereas the innate immune system confers immediate protection. In the case of the immune system, the pattern recognition receptors offer various modes of sensing the molecular patterns associated with pathogens. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important mediators of inflammatory pathways in the...

Understanding the career choices of future health workers in Rwanda is crucial for effective health policy. This working paper delves into the diverse preferences of medical and nursing students, examining their motivations, income expectations, and willingness to serve in rural areas or high-HIV prevalence regions. It sheds light on the factors influencing their decisions, from altruism and intrinsic motivation to economic incentives and personal...

General practitioners and other primary care professionals have a leading role in contemporary health care, which Trisha Greenhalgh explores in this highly praised new text. She provides perceptive and engaging insights into primary health care, focussing on: • its intellectual roots • its impact on the individual, the family and the community • the role of the multidisciplinary team • contemporary topics such as homelessness, ethnic health...

"As a species, humans have doubled their life expectancy in one hundred years. Medical breakthroughs, public health institutions, rising standards of living, and the other advances of modern life have given each person about 20,000 extra days on average. This book attempts to help the reader understand where that progress came from and what forces keep people alive longer. The author also considers how to avoid decreases in life expectancy as public...

This brand-new title in the market-leading at a Glance series provides a highly-illustrated, visual introduction to the key concepts of population-level disease prevention. Accessible, double-page spreads help you understand and appreciate the determinants of health which impact on healthcare services and their effectiveness. Public Health and Epidemiology at a Glance features high-yield information on all the topics covered at medical school, including: •...

From a prominent medical historian, "a fascinating story of the spread of malaria through the USA following its introduction in the seventeenth century" (Nature Medicine). Margaret Humphreys presents the first book-length account of the parasitic, insect-borne disease that has infected millions and influenced settlement patterns, economic development, and the quality of life at every level of American society, especially in the south and during its...

The author argues that personal changes in lifestyle and individual choice contribute more to personal well being than the medical establishment. He advocates that an increase in personal responsibility for our health can help transform the American Healthcare system.