Understanding Public Health

Julio Frenk is the Chancellor (President) of the University of California, Los Angeles and a globally recognized public health physician and leader in higher education. He previously served as the President of the University of Miami and the Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As the Minister of Health in Mexico from 2000–2006, he reformed the nation's health system, expanding access to healthcare for millions. He founded Mexico's National Institute of Public Health and has held top positions in the World Health Organization and other global institutions. His scholarly production includes close to 200 articles in academic journals, as well as many books and book chapters. He has received numerous awards, including the Clinton Global Citizen Award, the Yale Bouchet Medal for Outstanding Leadership and the Welch-Rose Award for Distinguished Service from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Claire Chaumont is a public health specialist with over two decades of experience working across more than fifteen countries at the intersection of research, policy, and practice. Her expertise spans complex health challenges, including global health governance and the connections between health, climate, food systems, and commercial determinants. She currently serves as Special Advisor on Strategic Plan Initiatives to the Chancellor at UCLA, where she guides the implementation of the university's 2023–2028 Strategic Plan, and she is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Health Policy and Management Department. Prior to these roles, she helped launch a new department at the World Health Organization focused on strengthening country-level implementation. A Fulbright scholar and political scientist trained at Harvard University, Sciences Po, and the London School of Economics and Political Science, Claire has advised governments, multilateral organizations, and non-governmental partners, and contributed to numerous policy reports and initiatives that translate evidence into actionable public health solutions. Suerie Moon leads the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where she is also Professor of Practice in International Relations and Political Science. She is a globally-recognized expert who has made foundational contributions to the study of global governance and health. She focuses her empirical research on how to achieve more globally equitable innovation and access to medicines and strengthen the global governance of outbreaks. Her scholarly contributions include over 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 14 book chapters and dozens of reports. She conducts trainings and other capacity building activities on global health diplomacy and governance. She also advises governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, serves on various national and international expert committees, and speaks regularly at conferences and with print, radio and television journalists on global health issues.

'As the field of public health faces unprecedented challenges from evolving threats, the need for the development of a conceptual guide for action is great. Understanding Public Health arrives at just the right time, delivering a powerful guide to systematic thinking about how new ideas can be translated into effective actions that meet the moment.' Christopher Borick, Lehigh University

• Foreword Gro Harlem Brundtland; Preface: the appeal of public health; Part I. Thinking About Health: 1. What is public health?; 2. What is global health?; Part II. Health: Definitions, Domains and Determinants: 3. Health conditions; 4. Conceptual basis for measuring health; 5. Determinants of health; 6. Health dynamics: how health conditions and needs change; Part III. Health Systems: The Organized Social Response: 7. Understanding complex systems; 8. Technology and health; 9. Health system performance; 10. Health system dynamics; 11. Challenges of health system reform; 12. The global health system: extending the organized social response; 13. The imperative of leadership; Part IV. Synthesis and Conclusions: 14. Applying the frameworks to the COVID-19 pandemic; Final thoughts: public health after the pandemic; References; Index.