Perhaps no other public policy issue has greater potential to affect some of the most significant economic, political, social, and ethical changes of the 21st century than global health. In this book, a scholar/physician team authors a comprehensive introduction to global health issues and emphasizes the potential of public health intervention to improve the longevity and quality of human life across the globe. The authors have lived and worked in Africa as well as in medically underserved areas of the United States, so they write with firsthand experience and authority. Using themes of interconnectedness, globalization, and united concern from citizens, this book encourages readers to consider the role that they might play as engaged citizens in taking on the global public health challenges of the 21st century including everything from AIDs and flu to tobacco, obesity, and threats in conflict zones. In all, Global Health in the 21st Century offers an up-to-date picture of global health worldwide covering specific topics like race, ethnicity, and gender as well as providing a more general overview of the medical and political dimensions of this most important issue area. This is the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary global health text appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate level courses. It offers a variety of pedagogical attractions to facilitate teaching and learning: