Global Public Health: A New Era is a comprehensive account of the international state of public health, including an agenda for improving the practice of the discipline across the world. It addresses three major issues, presented in distinct sections: the changing global context for public health; the state of public health theory and practice in both developed and developing countries, and strategies for strengthening the practice of public health in the twenty-first century.

Part One surveys the complex old and new challenges facing public health practitioners, and then summarizes the state of health globally using new data based on measures of the Global Burden of Disease developed by the World Health Organization, and other groups, to better describe population health states and trends.

Part Two presents the first detailed review of the global state of public health. It analyzes the public health situation in all regions of the world. Six chapters cover Europe, North and Latin America, and Australia and New Zealand, including a new chapter focusing on the UK. Three chapters cover China, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The lessons from these chapters are surprisingly similar: the challenges are gerat; the public health workforce and infrastructure have long been neglected, and much needs to be done to reinvigorate the practice of public health.

The third section covers several cross-cutting themes, including the developing field of international public health ethics and the central and neglected role of the public in strengthening the practice of public health. The final chapter summarizes the major themes of the book, and explores the opportunities for building the capacity of the public health workforce to respond to the major global health needs. Despite the enormity of the challenges facing public health practitioners, especially in low and middle income countries, the tone adpoted in the final section of the book is relatively optimistic. The editors are convinced that a reinvigorated public health practice will contribute substantially to improving the public health situation, especially for the most disadvantaged populations, whether in poor or wealthy countries.

About the Author:
Robert Beaglehole trained in medicine, epidemiology, and public health in New Zealand, England, and the USA before becoming a public health physician. He was Professor of Community Health at the University of Auckland, New Zealand (1988-1999) before joining the WHO in 2000. He directed the Department of Chronic Disease and Health Promotion at the WHO between 2004 and 2007. He developed an integrated and stepwise approach to the prevention and control of chronic diseases and led the development of the Bangkok Charter on Health Promotion in a Globalized World. He is now co-director of International Pubic Health Consultants, based in Auckland, New Zealand, and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Lancet. With Ruth Bonita, he was jointly awarded the ONZM by the Government of New Zealand for their contribution to public health. From 1999-2005, Ruth Bonita was Director of the Department of Surveillance in the Noncommunicable Disease Cluster at the WHO, Geneva, and in the
office of the Assistant Director General, Evidence for Information and Policy during 2005. During her time at WHO, she was involved with mapping the advancing epidemics of stroke and other chronic diseases, and the major risk factors which predict them. Her current interests are supporting the development of national prevention and surveillance activities in low and middle income countries, in an effort to prevent chronic diseases and reduce their impact on families, communities, and health systems. She is part of the International Advisory Board for Global Health Action (online). She is now co-director of International Pubic Health Consultants, based in Auckland, New Zealand. With Robert Beaglehole, she was jointly awarded the ONZM by the Government of New Zealand for their contribution to public health.