Sick Societies: Responding to the Global Challenge of Chronic Disease

Abstract

This is a surprising book and one which makes an important contribution to our understanding of the complexities of global chronic diseases. It is a dense, discursive book but its structure does render it accessible to students and interested academics and practitioners. Improvements in formatting could have further enhanced accessibility. There are five main parts which include the evaluation, societal determinants, social and economic consequences and the politics of chronic disease. The authors also provide insightful discussion on the activities of the private sector. The later comparative case studies from various developing countries are excellent. The book introduces a useful perspective on the four global chronic diseases of heart disease, common cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes with their four main behavioural risk factors of tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol. Key policy and practice points together with a comprehensive summary accompany most of the chapters which will prove useful for both specialist and non-specialist audiences. There are captivating aspects of this book which are achieved through retaining a global perspective throughout. It is worth seeking out the 18 ‘clues’ arguing the need to focus on population rather than individual risk factors. Innovative diagrammatic interpretations of the arguments being made are presented throughout. The final summary section is entitled ‘Restoring the Public Health Imagination’ which nuances the arguments made throughout the book for different audiences. The authors have succeeded in their vision to provide an analysis of the global challenge of chronic disease through the lens of what they term ‘sick societies’.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 36 citations exist upstream.