Public Health in the Arab World

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.

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. The authors critique and adapt general concepts, frameworks and paradigms to the local context, engaging readers in current debates.

Iman Nuwayhid is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Marwan Khawaja is Chief, Social Statistics Section, UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA), Beirut, Lebanon.
Samer Jabbour is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Rita Giacaman is a Professor of Public Health at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, West Bank, Palestine.