Anthropology in Public Health

Looking backward over the last few decades, it is impressive to see how far anthropological approaches to public health have come up, not just on communicable disease research and prevention, but also for non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, female reproductive health, mental illness, substance consumption and abuse, and health practices. Yet, when countries with established economy are compared with low economy countries, there seem to be a radical difference. Anthropologists with their extensive field work and vast well grounded theoretical knowledge plays a significant role in public health arena. One of the most attractive features of this book is that the editors have asked the authors to layout the specific methods of their research projects and programmes, so that the reader can come to a sense of where this field is going. We envision the audience of this book to comprise a broad spectrum of those involved in anthropology, public health and epidemiology. The readers will find this book presenting a familiar public health milieu in a different and fascinating context. Individuals who are just beginners in these fields will find these chapters foundational in careers.