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Blue Marble Health

An Innovative Plan to Fight Diseases of the Poor amid Wealth

Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD
foreword by Cher

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Why do diseases of poverty afflict more people in wealthy countries than in the developing world?

In 2011, Dr. Peter J. Hotez relocated to Houston to launch Baylor’s National School of Tropical Medicine. He was shocked to discover that a number of neglected diseases often associated with developing countries were widespread in impoverished Texas communities. Despite the United States’ economic prowess and first-world status, an estimated 12 million Americans living at the poverty level currently suffer from at least one neglected tropical disease, or NTD. Hotez concluded that the world’s...

Why do diseases of poverty afflict more people in wealthy countries than in the developing world?

In 2011, Dr. Peter J. Hotez relocated to Houston to launch Baylor’s National School of Tropical Medicine. He was shocked to discover that a number of neglected diseases often associated with developing countries were widespread in impoverished Texas communities. Despite the United States’ economic prowess and first-world status, an estimated 12 million Americans living at the poverty level currently suffer from at least one neglected tropical disease, or NTD. Hotez concluded that the world’s neglected diseases—which include tuberculosis, hookworm infection, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis—are born first and foremost of extreme poverty.

In this book, Hotez describes a new global paradigm known as "blue marble health," through which he asserts that poor people living in wealthy countries account for most of the world’s poverty-related illness. He explores the current state of neglected diseases in such disparate countries as Mexico, South Korea, Argentina, Australia, the United States, Japan, and Nigeria. By crafting public policy and relying on global partnerships to control or eliminate some of the world’s worst poverty-related illnesses, Hotez believes, it is possible to eliminate life-threatening disease while at the same time creating unprecedented opportunities for science and diplomacy.

Clear, compassionate, and timely, Blue Marble Health is a must-read for leaders in global health, tropical medicine, and international development, along with anyone committed to helping the millions of people who are caught in the desperate cycle of poverty and disease.

Reviews

Reviews

Recommended.

This is a well-researched book that takes you to different countries of the world, describing diseases and giving solid data. It should be on the essential reading list of student nurses, as it will raise awareness of some shocking facts and hopefully increase the chance of something being done to solve the problems highlighted.

Dr. Hotez is a world-class, innovative, and truly original thinker. In this book, he pushes the world and its decision-makers to address neglected tropical diseases in a comprehensive and meaningful fashion, wherever they occur.

Blue Marble Health brings a refreshing perspective to the concept of Global Health with its blurry north-south divide. It is a comprehensive work that sheds light in to a well of health problems grounded in a bitter reality of inequity, infectious diseases and NCDs. Hotez highlights the need for shared solutions to tackle some of the World’s greatest public health problems.

Blue Marble Health is a resounding, relentless call for action—a plea to set aside excuses and rally behind a commitment to improve the lives of billions. Dr. Hotez meticulously details neglected diseases, imploring us to tackle the socioeconomic drivers of their profound impact on our most vulnerable populations.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
224
ISBN
9781421420462
Illustration Description
12 halftones, 9 line drawings, 6 maps
Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. A Changing Landscape in Global Health
Chapter 2. The "Other Diseases": The Neglected Tropical Diseases
Chapter 3. Introducing Blue Marble Health (BMH)
Chapter 4. BMH

Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. A Changing Landscape in Global Health
Chapter 2. The "Other Diseases": The Neglected Tropical Diseases
Chapter 3. Introducing Blue Marble Health (BMH)
Chapter 4. BMH East Asia: China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea
Chapter 5. BMH India
Chapter 6. BMH Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria and South Africa
Chapter 7. BMH Middle East and North Africa: ISIS-Occupied Zones and Saudi Arabia
Chapter 8. BMH in the Americas: Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico
Chapter 9. BMH Australia, Canada, European Union, Russian Federation, and Turkey
Chapter 10. BMH United States of America
Chapter 11. BMH and the G20: "A Theory of Justice"
Chapter 12. BMH as a Framework for Science and Vaccine Diplomacy
Chapter 13. BMH Future Directions

Author Bios
Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD
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Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD

Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD (HOUSTON, TX), is a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology and the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also the codirector of the Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development. He is the author of Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-science and Vaccines...
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