This first English language book on China’s AIDS epidemic provides a picture of the current state of the epidemic, a social science and interdisciplinary perspective on gaps in the response, and a blueprint for needed actions. The book’s editors are leading experts on China’s AIDS epidemic, health and political systems. Contributors comprise some of the world’s leading Chinese and international researchers, policy-makers, and civil society representatives working on HIV/AIDS in China. The multi-disciplinary work provides a critically needed social science perspective and analysis of the epidemic, offers a framework for thinking about the spread of HIV in China, and includes suggestions for an effective policy response that also addresses social determinants.
This unique book provides a comprehensive picture of the vivid kaleidoscope of traditional medicine in Asia presented by 34 eminent authors from 15 countries belonging to the different systems like Ayurveda and Chinese Traditional Medicine. Important emerging areas such as harmonization of the traditional systems with modern medicine and the growing role of these systems in the health care structure of countries are also dealt with. Legislation and regulation of these systems and practitioners, an area of growing concern, the need for good preclinical toxicology studies and scientific clinical evaluation of the products and medicinal plants used for therapy are exhaustingly dealt with. The vital issue of protection of traditional systems of medicine and patenting of medicinal plants is discussed in detail. The book is replete with suggestions, and ideas aimed at making traditional systems more effectively, and more widely used for health care. The book also covers the prevailing situation regarding the use and other aspects of traditional medicine in the 10 Member countries of the South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organization.
The implications of biodiversity loss for the global environment have been widely discussed, but only recently has attention been paid to its direct and serious effects on human health. Biodiversity loss affects the spread of human diseases, causes a loss of medical models, diminishes the supplies of raw materials for drug discovery and biotechnology, and threatens food production and water quality. Biodiversity and Human Health brings together leading thinkers on the global environment and biomedicine to explore the human health consequences of the loss of biological diversity. Based on a two-day conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution, the book opens a dialogue among experts from the fields of public health, biology, epidemiology, botany, ecology, demography, and pharmacology on this vital but often neglected concern. Contributors discuss the uses and significance of biodiversity to the practice of medicine today, and develop strategies for conservation of these critical resources. Topics examined include: the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss emerging infectious diseases and the loss of biodiversity the significance and use of both prescription and herbal biodiversity-derived remedies indigenous and local peoples and their health care systems sustainable use of biodiversity for medicine an agenda for the future In addition to the editors, contributors include Anthony Artuso, Byron Bailey, Jensa Bell, Bhaswati Bhattacharya, Michael Boyd, Mary S. Campbell, Eric Chivian, Paul Cox, Gordon Cragg, Andrew Dobson, Kate Duffy-Mazan, Robert Engelman, Paul Epstein, Alexandra S. Fairfield, John Grupenhoff, Daniel Janzen, Catherine A. Laughin, Katy Moran, Robert McCaleb, Thomas Mays, David Newman, Charles Peters, Walter Reid, and John Vandermeer. The book provides a common framework for physicians and biomedical researchers who wish to learn more about environmental concerns, and for members of the environmental community who desire a greater understanding of biomedical issues.
Having a child remains one of the biggest health risks for women worldwide. Fifteen hundred women die every day while giving birth. That's a half a million mothers every year. UNICEF's flagship publication, The State of the World's Children 2009, addresses maternal mortality, one of the most intractable problems for development work.The difference in pregnancy risk between women in developing countries and their peers in the industrialised world is often termed the greatest health divide in the world. A woman in Niger has a one in seven chance of dying during the course of her lifetime from complications during pregnancy or delivery. That's in stark contrast to the risk for mothers in America, where it's one in 4,800 or in Ireland, where it's just one in 48,000. Addressing that gap is a multidisciplinary challenge, requiring an emphasis on education, human resources, community involvement and social equality. At a minimum, women must be guaranteed antenatal care, skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetrics, and postpartum care. These essential interventions will only be guaranteed within the context of improved education and the abolition of discrimination.
The result of collaboration between the University of New South Wales and the Tsinghua University in Beijing, this unique chronicle maps some of the most important social, political, and cultural characteristics of the HIV epidemic in China. Demonstrating that the epidemic was propelled by three main economic drivers--the blood trade, the drug trade, and the sex trade--this informative compilation of essays uncovers the hidden truths about the spread of HIV and analyzes its social impacts.
This report provides a review and analysis of the research landscape for zoonoses and marginalized infections which affect poor populations, and a list of research priorities to support disease control. The work is the output of the disease reference group on zoonoses and marginalized infectious diseases (DRG6), which is part of an independent think tank of international experts, established and funded by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), to identify key research priorities through the review of research evidence and input from stakeholder consultations. The report covers a diverse range of diseases including zoonotic helminth protozoa, viral and bacterial infections considered to be neglected and associated with poverty. Disease-specific research issues were elaborated under individual disease sections and many common priorities were readily identified among the disease such as need for new and/or improved drugs and regimens, diagnostics and, where appropriate, vaccines. The disease specific priorities are described as micro priorities compared with the macro level priorities which will drive such policies as the need for improved surveillance; the need for inter-sectoral interaction between health, livestock, agriculture, natural resources and wildlife in tackling the zoonotic diseases; and the need for a true assessment of the burden of the zoonoses. This is one of ten disease and thematic reference group reports that have come out of the TDR Think Tank, all of which have contributed to the development of the Global Report for Research on Infectious Diseases of Poverty.
Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.
Tuberculosis emerged as an epidemic in the 1600s, began to decline as sanitation improved in the 19th century, and retreated further when effective therapy was developed in the 1950s. TB was virtually forgotten until a recent resurgence in the U.S. and around the worldâ€"ominously, in forms resistant to commonly used medicines. What must the nation do to eliminate TB? The distinguished committee from the Institute of Medicine offers recommendations in the key areas of epidemiology and prevention, diagnosis and treatment, funding and organization of public initiatives, and the U.S. role worldwide. The panel also focuses on how to mobilize policy makers and the public to effective action. The book provides important background on the pathology of tuberculosis, its history and status in the U.S., and the public and private response. The committee explains how the U.S. can act with both self-interest and humanitarianism in addressing the worldwide incidence of TB.
