Public Health in the Arab World

This volume reviews the public health concerns and challenges specific to the complex Arab world from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Samer Jabbour (Edited by), Rita Giacaman (Edited by), Marwan Khawaja (Edited by), Iman Nuwayhid (Edited by)

9780521516747, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 March 2012

517 pages, 210 b/w illus. 30 colour illus.
25.5 x 19.2 x 2.8 cm, 1.26 kg

The Arab world is a distinct geographic and cultural entity, with a complex demographic. Public Health in the Arab World reviews and dissects the public health concerns specific to this region. This volume will interest not only researchers, practitioners and students in the Arab world, but also the wider constituency of international public health specialists and social scholars interested in this region. With contributions from a multidisciplinary group of leading regional and international experts, this volume addresses a comprehensive range of contemporary topics, including the social determinants of health, and health issues in different population groups. Synthesizing a large body of knowledge in an accessible manner, the authors critique and adapt public health concepts, frameworks and paradigms to the context of the Arab world, engaging readers in current debates. This is a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in global public health and in Arab world studies.

Foreword
Introduction
Part I. The Context of Public Health: 1. Public health, the medical profession, and state building: a historical perspective
2. The political, economic, and social context
3. The demographic transitions: characteristics and public health implications
4. Environmental degradation: the challenge of sustaining life
Part II. The Social Determinants of Health: 5. Health inequities: social determinants and policy implications
6. Assets and health: towards a new framework
7. Gender disparities in health
8. Knowledge gaps: the agenda for research and action
Part III. Health and Disease: A Focus on Avoidable Conditions: 9. Introduction: health and disease in the regional context
10. Nutrition and food security: the Arab World in transition
11. Infectious diseases: the unfinished agenda and future needs
12. Non-communicable diseases I: burden and approaches to prevention
13. Non-communicable diseases II: focus on cardiovascular diseases
14. An overview of mental disorders
15. Recognising omitted contexts and implicit paradigms: toward a valid mental health discourse
16. Injury epidemiology and prevention
Part IV. The Health of Population Groups: 17. Child health: caring for the future
18. The health of young people: challenges and opportunities
19. Women's health: progress and unaddressed issues
20. The older persons: from veneration to vulnerability?
21. The well-being of migrant women: between agency and restraint
22. Workers health: a social framework beyond workplace hazards
Part V. Public Health in War and Violent Conflict: 23. Conflict in health: meeting challenges to insecurity
24. Health status and health services in the occupied Palestinian territory
25. Public health in crisis: Iraq
26. Summer 2006 war on Lebanon: a lesson in community resilience
Part VI. Health Systems: Toward Equity and Accountability: 27. Introduction: seeing the trees, not missing the forest
28. Health system governance
29. Health system financing: the bottleneck of the right to health
30. The public health workforce and human resource for health
31. Health care delivery: the missing links
32. Access to essential medicines: impediments and the way forward
Part VII. Public Health and the Social Agenda: 33. Graduate education in public health: toward a multidisciplinary model
34. Participatory community interventions: a case study approach
35. Reflections on the de-politicization of health and scholarship
36. Toward a regional perspective on health and human security
37. Egypt in crisis: politics, health care, and social mobilization for health rights
38. Can action on health achieve political and social reform?
Postscript
Index.

Subject Areas: Health systems & services [MBP], Epidemiology & medical statistics [MBNS], Personal & public health [MBNH], Public health & preventive medicine [MBN]