This volume addresses the ideational and policy-oriented challenges of Africa’s health governance due to voluntary and involuntary cross-border migration of people and diseases in a growing 'mobile Africa'. The collected set of specialized contributions in this volume examines how national and regional policy innovation can address the competing conception of sovereignty in dealing with Africa’s emerging healthcare problems in a fast-paced, interconnect world.

Today’s era of intense globalization has unleashed dynamic movements of people, pathogens, and pests that overwhelm the static territorial jurisdictions on which the governance provided by sovereign states and their formal intergovernmental institutions is based. This world of movement calls for new ideas and institutions to govern people’s health, above all in Africa, where the movements and health challenges are the most acute. This book insightfully explores these challenges in ways that put the perspectives of Africans themselves at centre stage. It begins with the long central and still compelling African health challenge of combating the pandemic of HIV/AIDS. It then examines the global governance responses by the major multilateral organizations of the World Bank and the World Trade Organization and the newer informal flexible democratically oriented ones of the Group of Eight. It also addresses the compounding health challenge created by climate change to assess both its intensifying impact on Africa and how all international institutions have largely failed to link climate and health in their governance response. It concludes with several recommendations about the innovative ideas and institutions that offer a way to closing the great global governance gaps and thus improving Africans’ health and that of citizens beyond.

This book discusses fundamental discourses relating to health in Africa arising out of the consequences of endemic diseases in Africa. It identifies, explains and illustrates the contexts, challenges and efforts to combat these diseases. The book provides a unique comparative analysis of African contexts of health, thereby not ignoring the global contexts of health within which Africa exists. It follows a macro-analytic stance about health in Africa framed around significant/pressing issues. "Discourse of disease" is part of a profound sociological discourse of health in Africa, which provides a framework for students, academics and healthcare practitioners to understand the states of health and healthcare in Africa.

Written by a team of experts that includes doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and chemists, this handbook focuses on the diseases that pose the greatest threat to African American women today. Topics include African American women and heart disease, sickle cell, breast cancer, diabetes, HIV and AIDS, as well as mental illness. Social issues that affect health are also examined, including poverty, homelessness, stress, racism, sexism, and treatment disparities. Two thirds of the chapters are all-new with fresh topics and information, and the remaining chapters have been completely updated.

The book deals with a broad range of contemporary and recurring empirical and practical issues encapsulated within the context of demographic inquiry and analysis. The papers included here reflect strands of thoughts and research that find expression in interdisciplinary outlook focussing on sexuality, fertility, gender, morbidity and mortality, migration, maternal and child health and the elderly.

Health Service Marketing Management in Africa (978-0-429-40085-8, K402492) Shelving Guide: Business & Management / Marketing Management The application of marketing to healthcare is a fascinating field that will likely have more impact on society than any other field of marketing. It’s been theorized that an intrinsically unstable environment characterizes this very relevant emerging field, hence raising new questions. Changing regulations, discoveries, and new health treatments continuously appear and give rise to such questions. Advancements in technology not only improve healthcare delivery systems but also provide avenues for customers to seek information regarding their health conditions and influence their participatory behaviors or changing roles in the service delivery. Increasingly, there is a shift from a doctor-led approach to a more patient-centered approach. In Africa, the importance of marketing-driven practices in improving the delivery of healthcare services cannot be overemphasized. The issue of healthcare delivery and management is significant for policymakers, private sector players, and consumers of health-related services in developing economy contexts. Scholars have strongly argued in favor of marketing and value creation in healthcare service delivery in Africa. Each country in Africa has its own issues. For example, long waiting times, unavailable medications, and unfriendly staff are just a sampling of issues affecting the acceptability of healthcare services. These examples highlight the need to utilize marketing and value creation tools in the delivery of healthcare services. Furthermore, there is a need for the integration of service marketing and management principles to enhance the delivery of quality healthcare across Africa and other developing economies which is the critical focus of this book. This book responds to calls for quality healthcare service management practices or processes from developing economy perspectives. Focusing primarily on African and other developing economy contexts, this book covers seven thematic areas: strategy in healthcare; marketing imperatives in healthcare management; product and pricing management in healthcare; distribution and marketing communications in healthcare; managing people in healthcare; physical evidence and service quality management in healthcare; and process management in healthcare.

South Africa is widely recognised as a middle-income, industrialised nation, but it also ranks amongst the most unequal countries in the world in terms of its income distribution and human development. Environmental health remains a considerable public health challenge in the 21st century as Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) try to tackle local environmental health inequalities in the face of historically disadvantaged populations suspicious of their motives and demands that far exceed any resources available. Based on an empirical research project that explores how local government Environmental Health Practitioners regulate environmental health in one of South Africa’s largest, fastest growing and most unequal cities, Urbington, this book explores the many influences on their decision-making including the limits of the law, organisational controls, the views of EHPs themselves and their relations with businesses, communities, politicians and others. Tackling Environmental Health Inequalities in a South African City? argues that if we are to meet the environmental health challenges of the 21st century, it is in our best interests to rediscover this vital local public health workforce. This book is essential reading for students, practitioners and policymakers in environmental health and public health, as well as those interested in urban development and policy, particularly in African cities.

The Handbook of Forensic Mental Health in Africa traces the history of forensic mental health in Africa, discussing the importance of considering cultural differences when implementing Western-validated practices on the continent while establishing state-of-the-art assessment and treatment of justice-involved persons. Experts in the field of forensic mental health throughout Africa explore the current state of forensic mental health policy and service provision, as well as the unique ethical challenges which have arisen with the recent growth of interest in the field. The African and international research literature on violence risk assessment, competency to stand trial, malingering assessment, Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) evaluations, report writing as an expert witness and mental health legislation in the context of forensic practice are explored throughout. Finally, future directions for forensic mental health in Africa are discussed for juvenile, female and elderly offenders. This text is ideal for mental health, criminal justice and legal professionals working in clinical, research and policy contexts.