This excellent text brings together information that students and professionals working in the wide variety of disciplines concerned with international health will find in no other single source. It synthesizes historical, cultural, environmental, economic and political considerations to provide a comprehensive global overview of the many factors that determine the health of individuals and populations. The major determinants of health status in all regions of the world are discussed, and interventions undertaken at community, national, and international levels are described. For this edition, new chapters on health management information systems and health sector reform have been added. There are new discussions of structural adjustment; the global burden of disease; application of the disability adjusted life year (DALY); poverty, equity and health; disaster and refugee relief programs; aging populations; and development, resource use, and the environment. The entire text has been updated, including the sections on child health, women's and reproductive health, maternal mortality, and emerging infectious diseases. International organizations, their policies and programs are reviewed. Trends in foreign aid, such as sector-wide approaches are highlighted. There is extensive coverage of the basic models of health care systems and their variants with an analysis of changes in the former Soviet Union and reunified Germany.