IAHPE new book

This book is an effort to describe and critically analyse the recent experience of various European countries and discuss the dilemmas and challenges that confront health policy and policy-makers in this period of time and geopolitical setting, providing concrete evidence from various countries.

This analysis of the political and social forces that shape the well-being and quality of life of populations in developed capitalist countries is written by scholars based in several different countries. The book shows how the varying political traditions in the developed world—social democratic, Christian democratic, conservative, and liberal traditions—have affected populations’ health and quality of life in the western democracies.

Since US President Reagan and UK Prime Minister Thatcher, a major ideology (under the name of economic science) has been expanded worldwide that claims that the best policies to stimulate human development are those that reduce the role of the state in economic and social lives:privatizing public services and public enterprises, deregulating the mobility of capital and labor, eliminating protectionism and reducing public social protection.

The field of social inequalities in health continues its vigorous growth in the early years of the 21st century. This volume following in the footsteps of Vicente Navarro's edited collection of The Political Economy of Social Inequalities, is a compilation of recent contributions to the area of social epidemiology, health disparities, health economics and health services research.

Health Policy Reform: Driving the wrong way? - A critical guide to the global 'health reform' industry
author: John Lister
Published July 5 2005
ISBN 1 904750 45 1 £25pb
“This is an excellent book for students and policy makers and provides a useful overview of health care restructuring across the world. I recommend it.”
Allyson Pollock, Chair of Health Policy & Health Services Research, UCL