Customer Reviews

Rx for Survival: Why We Must Rise to the Global Health Challenge

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Rx for Survival presents a media-friendly perspective of what makes a difference in international development and health. While some of the historical perspective is interesting and useful, the general presentation is facile, missing the importance of government actions, of human rights principles, and of community-based organizations in the identification and response to the diseases presented.

Hilts writes: "In science the couplings of love are sometimes expressed in mathematical models. They are like fluid flows, or combusition spreading." This kind of rhetoric is everywhere and doesn't do much to spread an understanding of the diseases, or the successful response to them, that the author intends.

In a remarkably "optimistic" account of four medical crises - diarrohea (Bangladesh), polio (India), night blindness (Nepal) and AIDS (Botswana), Hilts looks at some of the unique features that enabled low-cost efforts to attain incredible results. The aim of the book is essentially to highlight that major medical problems do not necessarily need the huge amount of resources most seem to think are required. In each of the four 'stories', Hilts provides some unique characteristics of the volunteer projects - their conception, initial implementation, lessons learnt in a very easy-to-read engaging narration. An excellent book with no jarring political biases (surprising, since one would expect a PBS book to have some liberal leanings). A comprehensive list of volunteer organizations is also available as an appendix. A good read.

My background is in that of Biological Anthropology, Molecular Biology, and Global Public Health. In my Global Health and Cultural Diversity class, sociocultural anthro, and poli sci classes, it was sometimes a struggle to get through the academic jargon of published articles and successfully come away with a broad idea of what global public health means and how successful projects can translate into measurable results. What is global public health? Why is international aid sometimes viewed as a waste of money? What are the different disciplines that are contributing to our understanding of globalization and its varied effect on international and local populations? And how do differences in wealth translate to health and national prosperity? If you're looking for a book that goes into great detail, this might not be a good choice. However, if you want a nice easy read that is thought provoking and ties together some of the loose ends of public health, international relations, and foreign aid, this is your book. Great for high school and up, although college students and up might have a better appreciation for state failure, etc.

Hilts shows why the reader should care about clobal health and how it effects our lives world wide with overall increase in goods, drugs and general welfare of the people around the world.