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

This handbook examines health and medical care in the Arab world from a systems biology approach. It features comprehensive coverage that includes details of key social, environmental, and cultural determinants. In addition, the contributors also investigate the developed infrastructure that manages and delivers health care and medical solutions throughout the region.More than 25 sections consider all aspects of health, from cancer to hormone replacement therapy, from the use of medications to vitamin deficiency in emergency medical care. Chapters highlight essential areas in the wellbeing and care of this population. These topics include women’s health care, displaced and refugee women’s health needs, childhood health, social and environmental causes of disease, health systems and health management, and a wide range of diseases of various body systems. This resource also explores issues related to access and barriers to health delivery throughout the region.Health in the Arab world is complex and rapidly changing. The health burden in the region is distributed unevenly based on gender, location, as well as other factors. In addition, crises such as armed conflicts and an expanding migrant population place additional stress on systems and providers at all levels. This timely resource will help readers better understand all these major issues and more. It will serve as an ideal guide for researchers in various biological disciplines, public health, and regulatory agencies.

This publication contains papers presented at the Middle East regional symposium, held in Beirut in June 2002, to discuss public health challenges in the Middle East and North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean (MENA/EM) regions. Issues discussed include: public health functions and infrastructures, health economics, affordable and culturally appropriate services for disease prevention and treatment to reduce the dual burden of illness and disability, promotion strategies, the HIV/AIDS situation, issues of road safety, and strengthening primary health care in Iran.

This book addresses the pressing issues involved with the ethical conduct of research in one developing world region – the Arab Region. Clinical research has soared in the developing world -as pharmaceutical companies continue their search for regions with large, treatment naive populations - including the Arab region, and has profound implications for the health and the economies for the area. The ethical issues involved with the conduct of such research, however, have so far not been adequately addressed. This volume presents the issues regarding research ethics and research governance that have relevance for health authorities, regulators, industry, and academia. As a multi-authored volume it includes both international and local experts on ethical issues in research, representing all stakeholders, thus presenting a balanced view on this timely topic.

Cultural and social boundaries often separate those who participate in public health activities, and it is a major challenge to translate public health knowledge and technical capacity into public health action across these boundaries. This book provides an overview of anthropology and illustrates in 15 case studies how anthropological concepts and methods can help us understand and resolve diverse public health problems around the world. For example, one chapter shows how differences in concepts and terminology among patients, clinicians, and epidemiologists in a southwestern U.S. county hinder the control of epidemics. Another chapter examines reasons that Mexican farmers don't use protective equipment when spraying pesticides and suggests ways to increase use. Another examines the culture of international health agencies, demonstrates institutional values and practices that impede effective public health practice, and suggests issues that must be addressed to enhance institutional organization and process.; Each chapter characterizes a public health problem, describes methods used to analyse it, reviews results, and discusses implications; several chapters also describe and evaluate programs designed to address the problem on the basis of anthropological knowledge. The book provides practical models and indicates anthropological tools to translate public health knowledge and technical capacity into public health action.

Food Safety in Middle East provides the latest research data on food safety in the Arab countries of the Middle East and summarizes recent developments on food safety practices, policies, and legislations. Food safety is a hot issue in research over the last decade due to the surge in foodborne infections, particularly in this area. Data suggest the increase is due to the foods consumed by the increasing holidaymakers and tourists. This book sums up information published in scientific literature with additional reports, knowledge and expertise to help reduce foodborne illnesses in this growing area. Beginning with the introduction of Middle East's food culture, the book addresses the food safety status in the Middle East. It dives deep in biological hazards (foodborne infections, intoxications and toxicoinfections) and in chemical hazards in foods of the Middle East. Additionally, the book reviews current measures that are being used to control foodborne pathogens in common foods widely consumed in the area. Interestingly, important data on food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices among food handlers in foodservice establishments in the Arab countries of the Middle East, are being thoroughly presented and analyzed. The book finally summarizes the current food safety legislations implemented at government level in certain Middle Eastern countries. It is a valuable reference for graduate students, researchers, librarians and professionals working in the food sector. - Gives an overview of the traditional foods, food safety practices, and food culture in the Middle East - Provides current research on pathogens in traditional foods consumed in the Arab countries of the Middle East - Discusses foodborne infections, intoxications and toxicoinfections to gain an understanding of causes to promote best practices - Summarizes data on chemical contaminants and residues in foods addressing potential food safety hazards in the Middle East - Discusses control measures of pathogens in common foods in the Middle East - Includes information on policies and strategies/measures to combat food safety infections, intoxications and toxicoinfections - Presents perspectives on current and future legislations to limit foodborne intoxications to improve food safety in Middle East countries and the Gulf states

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.