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Purpose – This chapter aims to provide a cross-section of some social, political, cultural, and economic factors that contribute to the conditions of illness, specifically malaria, in an area of Tanzania where both land and population have been marginalized to varying degrees over time. It also suggests the relevance of such considerations in the planning and implementation of public health interventions in the region.

Methodology/approach – This chapter elaborates upon a case study conducted by the author in the Ngorongoro District in Tanzania in 2006. A political ecology framework is used to guide the discussion.

Findings – Malaria in the Ngorongoro Maasai community can be more fully understood by incorporating critical social science perspectives into health-related analyses, by allowing for a greater appreciation of the complex history behind current configurations of infrastructure and sociopolitical interactions in the region. Assuming that equity is of concern, this appreciation can contribute to ensuring that all populations in the country have the opportunity to benefit from the public health momentum in Tanzania.

Contribution to the field – Much attention is justifiably directed toward the social and economic consequences of infectious diseases in developing countries. Tanzania alone accounts for a large proportion of malaria cases and deaths worldwide. This chapter recognizes that malaria is one of the many elements in an ecological system continually integrating cues from nature and society, and uses that framework to demonstrate the importance of qualitative analysis in view of the copious international funding and assistance for control measures.

Over the last decades, there has been an increasing interest among scientists on the linkage between population health and climate and environmental factors, as well as health impacts of climate change and climate variability. Numerous studies have been done and substantial results achieved, but mostly in the developed countries, and not much quantitative evidence or assessment of the impacts at national and local levels has been provided for developing countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed movement restrictions and limited access to modern medical services, prompting the search for alternative solutions, such as indigenous herbal medicines. In Southwest Nigeria, female herbal producers, often with limited economic resources, play a significant role in herbal medicine production. Despite facing multiple challenges, these producers have demonstrated remarkable creativity in navigating the barriers. However, without deliberate efforts to preserve their creative values, indigenous herbal businesses face the threat of extinction. This chapter investigates the resourcefulness of female herbal producers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southwest Nigeria and proposes strategies for sustaining their trade. Qualitative data were collected to identify the treatment patterns and trade dynamics among female herbal producers in the region. The findings indicate that movement restrictions during the pandemic disrupted herbal producers' access to treatment materials, yet they managed to meet their communities' health needs. These women often serve as first responders and primary healthcare providers in many local communities in Southwest Nigeria, and collaboration with the government will further enhance their effectiveness. The sustainability of indigenous herbal medicine production and trade by women can become a pathway to promote women's economic empowerment in Nigeria if given the necessary support. The chapter concludes with policy recommendations for sustaining the ingenuity of female herbal producers in Nigeria.

A Novartis social business in India completely separated the activities of its social and business units—the former engaging in raising the health awareness of villagers and encouraging them to visit free health camps, while the latter developed affordable medicine delivered directly to village pharmacies. Connections between these units were made through open and fluid market-type mechanisms, and by appealing to the needs and interests of villagers with incentives. This synchronized business model was developed partly because Novartis believed in villagers' self-initiated behavior for health improvements, which made it not interfere into marginalized institutions, and more significantly because it used its internalized control and coordination systems with clear goals of social contribution in operating the business unit. Consequently, Novartis achieved economies of scale, business sustainability, and social contribution.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the opening quote reminds us that despite the medical and public health gains of recent decades, benefits have not accrued to the most vulnerable of citizens, children (DeYoung & Lynch, 2002). For decades research has quantified the links between poverty, ill-health and the global burdens imposed by disease. Yet, the distribution of poverty and disease has changed little over the last thirty years, continuing to be concentrated among poor children in both emerging and developed nations (Bellamy, 1999; Brundtland, 1999). Fundamentally, the complex web of poverty relegates youth to a lifetime of suffering because of the relationships between and among resources, health and neurological development.

Purpose – To analyze the concept of emerging infectious diseases, departing from the accepted definitions adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, USA) and the now classical definition suggested by Grmek (1993, 1995). The emphasis of this chapter is on the roles that socio-economic and cultural changes play on the emergence of diseases.

Methodology – Bibliographical research.

Findings – Current definitions fail to address all instances of the emergence of disease. In order to illustrate the concept of emergence, we discuss two case studies. The first describes the constitution of abdominal angiostrongyliasis in Costa Rica. The second concerns an outbreak of Chagas disease that took place in 2005 in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Contribution – As a result of our analyses we propose a new classification of instances of emergence and emphasize the importance of an interdisciplinary approach for the understanding of diseases.

The largest ever outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD), which began in December 2013, profoundly impacted not only the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, and to a lesser extent Nigeria, but also the rest of the world because some patients needed to be managed in high-resource countries. As of March 29, 2016, there were 28,616 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of EVD reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone during the outbreak, with 11,310 deaths (case fatality rate of 39.5%). An unprecedented number of healthcare workers and professionals, including physicians, nurses, logistic and administrative personnel, housekeepers, epidemiologists, statisticians, psychologists, sociologists, and ethics experts in many countries, were directly or indirectly involved in the care of EVD patients.

The provision of medical care to critically ill EVD patients would have been challenging in any setting but was especially so in the remote and resource-limited areas where patients were stricken by EVD. Limited health personnel, medical supplies, and equipment, along with inadequate knowledge and skills for minimizing the risks of transmission to healthcare workers, could have led to the de-prioritization of patient care. However, ethical considerations demanded aggressive patient care (intensive care, dialysis, central vascular catheter indwelling, etc.) to produce positive outcomes without increasing the risks to healthcare workers and caregivers.

A major ethical consideration was that healthcare workers have a double obligation: while providing the best medical care to improve EVD patient survival, with symptom relief and palliation as required, they must also protect themselves and minimize further transmission to others, including their colleagues. During the 2014–2015 EVD epidemic, another ethical and clinical problem arose in relation to the management of healthcare workers deployed in Africa who acquired EVD while caring for infected patients. As of June 24, 2015, a total of 65 individuals had been evacuated or repatriated worldwide from the EVD-affected countries, of whom 38 individuals were evacuated or repatriated to Europe. The need for evacuation and repatriation, together with associated ethical issues, is discussed in this chapter.

The years following the 9/11/2001 terrorists attacks saw a marked increase in community and hospital emergency preparedness, from communications across community networks, development of policies and procedures, to attainment and training in the use of biological warfare resources. Regular drills ensured emergency and health care personnel were trained and prepared to address the next large-scale crisis, especially from terrorist and bioterrorist attacks. This chapter looks at some of the more familiar global health issues over the past two decades and the lessons learned from hospital responses to inform hospital management in preparation for future incidents.

This study is a narrative review of the literature related to lessons learned from four major events in the time period from 2002 to 2023 – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19.

The initial search yielded 25,913 articles; 57 articles were selected for inclusion in the study.

Comparison of key issues and lessons learned among the four major events described in this article – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19 – highlight that several lessons are “relearned” with each event. Other key issues, such as supply shortages, staffing availability, and hospital capacity to simultaneously provide care to noninfectious patients came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary, ongoing concern for hospitals is how to maintain their preparedness given competing priorities, resources, and staff time. This concern remains post-COVID-19.