"This is an excellent book, well-written and well-documented. The editors have succeeded to bring together a large number of knowledgeable authors to cover comprehensively the vast area ...public health actors dealing with infectious diseases both at central and local level, whether in research, teaching or practice as well as professionals working in diagnostic and therapeutic health services, notably in microbiology and infectious diseases could greatly benefit from reading the book. Politicians and lay administrators with responsibility in the field would be well advised to do the same." European Journal of Public Health Health systems everywhere face constant change as they seek to respond to evolving patterns of disease. This is especially true with communicable diseases where humanity is engaged in a constant evolutionary struggle with micro-organisms that are able to adapt rapidly to a changing world. This problem can be, for example, exemplified recently by the growth of antibiotic resistant infection. This fascinating book confronts this challenge, looking at two regions where the pace of change is especially rapid, Europe and Latin America - places where health systems, many themselves undergoing rapid organisational transition, must find ways of adapting to an ever changing context. The book begins with an historical overview, recalling how humans and micro-organisms have always competed, at times with profound historical consequences, before examining the current status of this evolutionary struggle. It assesses the extent to which human societies and their governments are prepared for the challenges ahead and reviews the experiences of countries in Europe and Latin America in developing effective responses. Health Systems and the Challenge of Communicable Diseases will be of interest to those engaged in the development of health policy in high and middle income countries, and to those who are studying the creation and implementation of health policy.

Table of Contents:
About the authors
Foreword
List of tables and figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Contemporary emerging and re-emerging communicable diseases: challenges to control
Richard Coker, Rifat Atun, Martin McKee
2 The changing face of transitional societies
Martin McKee, Jane Falkingham
3 Effective governmental responses to communicable disease challenges in transitional societies
Kelley Lee, John Wyn Owen
4 A continuing evolutionary struggle: microbes and man
Anthony McMichael
5 Communicable disease in Europe
Shazia Karmali, Andrew Amato-Gauci, Andrea Ammon, Martin McKee
6 Communicable disease in Latin America and the Caribbean
Oscar Echeverri, Patricio Marquez, Enis Baris
7 Health systems and systems thinking
Rifat Atun, Nata Menabde
8 International and European responses to the threat of communicable disease
Ralph Rentjes
9 HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis control in post-Soviet Union countries
Nina Schwalbe, Jeffrey Lazarus, Olusoji Adeyi
10 Enabling health systems in tuberculosis control: challenges and opportunities for the former Soviet Union countries
Andrei Mosneaga, Elena Yurasova, Richard Zaleskis, Wieslaw Jakubowiak
11 Health systems and communicable disease control: emerging evidence and lessons from central and eastern Europe
Rifat Atun, Richard Coker
12 Health system reforms and communicable disease in Latin America and the Caribbean
Patricio Marquez, Oscar Echeverri, Enis Baris
13 Brazil’s response to AIDS and tuberculosis: lessons from a transitional economy
Eduardo Gómez
14 Health financing and communicable disease control: conceptual issues and implications
Rifat Atun, Claudio Politti, Ipek Gurol-Urganci, Joseph Kutzin
15 Health systems and communicable diseases: predicting and responding to future challenges
Richard Coker, Ana Mensua, Rifat Atun, Martin McKee
List of abbreviations