RLabonté et al entitle their paper in this issue of the International Journal of Health Policy and Management “The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Is It Everything We Feared for Health?” Tantalisingly, they do not directly answer the question they pose, and in this commentary, we suggest that it is the wrong question; we should not ‘fear’ the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) at all, rather we should ...

international health is still highly dominated by equilibrium approaches. the emergence of systems thinking in international health provides a great avenue to develop innovative health interventions adapted to changing contexts. the public health community, nevertheless, has the responsibility to translate concepts related to systems thinking and complexity into concrete research methods and in...

the aim of this study is to map the chronological achievements of public health over the past 100 years in a small island state and to outline emerging themes. a retrospective analysis of data was conducted from the published population and vital statistics reports of the central statistical office for the period of 1953-2006, as well as all available published reports of the ministry of health...

At the beginning of the 21st century there is widespread recognition that national and international health are inseparable. Societies are increasingly turning to innovative and diverse mechanisms of international health cooperation to gain control over the forces that are globalizing public health and related risk factors such as those outlined in this year’s World Health Report (1). Consequen...

Public health policies continue to play important roles in national and international health reforms. However, the influence and legacies of the public health eras during which such policies are formulated remain largely underappreciated. The limited appreciation of this relationship may hinder consistent adoption of public health policies by nation-states, and encumber disinvestment from ineff...

Health impact assessment (HIA) is both an effective tool for promoting healthy public policies and one that has the potential to help hold accountable for their actions those who create unhealthy public policies. This article identifies some of the issues that arise in considering the application of HIA to the operation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), especially in the context of sub-...

background snakebite has recently been declared a global public health emergency. empirical data showing the true burden of snakebite is lacking. treatment with specific antivenoms is considered the only cure. however, several factors have led to an ongoing antivenom crisis. this study offers recommendations concerning the improvement of antivenom access and control, by providing an overview of...