Is Health at the Very Core of the Global Agenda?

Theodore H. MacDonald is Professor (Emeritus) and Associate of Research Institute for Human Rights and Social Justice, London Metropolitan University and a consultant to the World Health Organization and the International Development Agency. For anyone interested in the question, "is health at the very core of the global agenda?" MacDonald's two new books should be required reading. [JH]

Health, Human Rights and the United Nations: Inconsistent Aims and Inherent Contradictions?
by Theodore MacDonald

List Price: $59.95
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd; (January 2008)
ISBN-10: 1846192412
ISBN-13: 978-1846192418

Description: In Health, Human Rights and the United Nations, Théodore H MacDonald carefully analyses the origin, development and structure of the United Nations (UN) and its key agencies, and considers its capacity to mediate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He takes a detailed look into human rights abuses in Sudan’s Darfur province, Burma, Liberia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Kingdom.

By investigating the development of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the pressures being brought to bear upon it, MacDonald exposes contradictions in the aims of both the WHO and the UN. Does the current global political scene and its neoliberal policies nullify the work of both? Is the UN fit for purpose? Can drastic reforms result in equitable solutions? Can a new trans-national body be developed, to arbitrate global trade, health, human rights and fiscal issues?

This remarkable book is ideal for anyone interested in international law, human rights, global health, public health and health promotion. Public health and health promotion professionals, including international healthcare organisations, care agencies, and international charities will find the analysis enlightening. It is also of great interest to policy makers and shapers in communities and government, political activists and all those with an interest in equality and globalisation.

The Global Human Right to Health: Dream or Possibility?
by Theodore H. MacDonald

List Price: $59.95
Paperback: 219 pages
Publisher: Radcliffe Publishing; 1 edition (September 30, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1846192013
ISBN-13: 978-1846192012

Description: This is a book based on what the Charter of the UN states about health as a basic human right.

General readers will find a refreshing, up-to-date account of why these issues are so crucial, while professionals will find the cogent epidemiological analyses needed to inform research efforts. The book argues that the major causes of ill-health are not bacteria and viruses, or even war and natural disasters, but poverty. If we could solve the immensely complex problems of global inequities in wealth, the health inequities would largely vanish.

The issue is not a simple one. This book sets out, among other things, to break down the communication barriers between the ‘professionals’ (doctors, economists and international bankers) and the ordinary person who looks with dismay at international injustice but feels totally inadequate in the face of it. The book argues that neoliberal approaches to global finance and international trade, which are inextricably linked to the looming environmental crisis, are not the only way open to us, and suggests alternatives. Above all, it offers hope and a useful role for all of us in solving the problems.