THE NEW MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND TROPICAL MEDICINE

Within the last few decades, the multitude of
infrastructural and environmental changes associated
with population growth, human migration, and
economic development have catalyzed the emergence
and re-emergence of many infectious diseases
worldwide. The morbidity and mortality associated
with these diseases have in turn led to an increased
and renewed impetus to gain a better understanding
of the etiology, epidemiology, prevention, and
control of these diseases in order to achieve better
health and well-being, especially for
underprivileged populations. Two traditionally
separate fields, medical geography and tropical
medicine, have recently seen complex and radical
paradigm shifts in response to this global
situation. As a result, concepts of medical
geography are being more readily employed within
tropical disease research, and tropical medicine is
embracing geographic methods as a central mainstay
in the control, management, and prevention of
tropical diseases. This book examines the complex
interplay that has developed between these two
fields in recent years with several case
studies that examine tropical diseases from a
geographic standpoint.

Autorentext
William Brennan Arden,PhD, MPH&TM, studied geography at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and Public Health & Tropical Medicine at James Cook University, Australia. Michael Leitner,PhD, studied GI Science at SUNY-Buffalo and at the University of Vienna, Austria, and is Associate Professor of Geography at Louisiana State University.

Klappentext
Within the last few decades, the multitude of infrastructural and environmental changes associated with population growth, human migration, and economic development have catalyzed the emergence and re-emergence of many infectious diseases worldwide. The morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases have in turn led to an increased and renewed impetus to gain a better understanding of the etiology, epidemiology, prevention, and control of these diseases in order to achieve better health and well-being, especially for underprivileged populations. Two traditionally separate fields, medical geography and tropical medicine, have recently seen complex and radical paradigm shifts in response to this global situation. As a result, concepts of medical geography are being more readily employed within tropical disease research, and tropical medicine is embracing geographic methods as a central mainstay in the control, management, and prevention of tropical diseases. This book examines the complex interplay that has developed between these two fields in recent years with several case studies that examine tropical diseases from a geographic standpoint.