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Virginia Berridge
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Public Health: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) 1st Edition

by Virginia Berridge (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 88 ratings
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Public health is a term much used in the media, by health professionals, and by activists. At the national or the local level there are ministries or departments of public health, whilst international agencies such as the World Health Organization promote public health policies, and regional organizations such as the European Union have public health funding and policies. But what do we mean when we speak about "public health?"

In this Very Short Introduction Virginia Berridge explores the areas which fall under the remit of public health, and explains how the individual histories of different countries have come to cause great differences in the perception of the role and responsibilities of public health organizations. Thus, in the United States litigation on public health issues is common, but state involvement is less, while some Scandinavian countries have a tradition of state involvement or even state ownership of industries such as alcohol in connection with public health. In its narrowest sense, public health can refer to the health of a population, the longevity of individual members, and their freedom from disease, but it can also be anticipatory, geared to the prevention of illness, rather than simply the provision of care and treatment. In the way public health deals with healthy as well as sick people it is therefore a separate concept from health services, which deal with the sick population. Drawing on a wide range of international examples, Berridge demonstrates the central role of history to understanding the amorphous nature of public health today.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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  1. ISBN-10
    019968846X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0199688463
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    October 1, 2016
  6. Part of series
    Very Short Introductions
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    0.4 x 4.4 x 6.6 inches
  9. Print length
    160 pages
  10. See all details
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Book Description

This Very Short Introduction outlines the nature of public health in our world today and places public health in its historical context from the earliest times, analyzing in particular the changes in public health regulation through the nineteenth century and the twentieth and twenty first centuries.

About the Author

Virginia Berridge is Professor of History and Director of the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London. She has edited or co-edited 12 books and is the sole author of 7 books including Marketing Health. Smoking and the Discourse of Public Health in Britain,1945-2000 (OUP, 2007) and Demons (OUP, 2013). She has written overviews of health and medicine for the Cambridge Social History of Britain and of contemporary history for the Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine. She has been Chair of the Society for the Social History of Medicine and President of the European Association for the History of Medicine and Health.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019968846X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199688463
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.4 x 4.4 x 6.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 88 ratings

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Virginia Berridge

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
88 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Patricia
3.0 out of 5 stars Limited scope
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2018
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I was hoping for a more broad introduction to public health but this focuses pretty heavily on the UK. It sprinkles in references to other countries, but it should have been called Public Health in the UK
3 people found this helpful
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John P. Jones III
3.0 out of 5 stars Anything you want it to be…
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2020
Virginia Berridge is a Professor at the London School of Tropical Medicine, now with an expanded name that includes “Hygiene.” As such, this work is heavily weighted towards the ways in which Public Health is practiced in the United Kingdom, with suitable nods to various Commonwealth countries. The first chapter asks the question: “What is Public Health?” The answer is the subject line. The concept of health, individual, and of the community as a whole, continues to shift and evolve. At one time the focus was on contagious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis. Now the focus is more on “lifestyle” diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases. She does not mention that considerable effort has been expended in the United States to make gun control a public health issue. She does mention however, that the United States is unique in how many public health issues are addressed, and resolved or not, in the courtroom.

This work was written in 2016 and is now terribly dated. But aren’t most things, post-COVID? To her credit, she does state that the next public health crisis might be totally unanticipated now. Yup! Consider the following, which were the top twelve concerns of the UK Faculty of Public Health in 2014: minimum unit pricing for alcohol; standard tobacco packaging; reduction of personal transport use; the living wage; physical activity targets; 20% duty on alcoholic beverages; reformulation of food products to cut sugar; a 20 mph speed limit in built up areas, and a few others of that genre. “Antimicrobial resistance” is only an honorable mention, beyond the top twelve. And there is NO mention of a global pandemic, despite previous experiences and various “prophets in the wilderness,” like David Quammen and Bill Gates.

Starting with chapter 3, she goes back over the development of public health concepts from the 1700’s, as the chapter title indicates, but actually all the way back to the Roman Empire, even briefly touching on the Black Death in the 14th century. There is a chapter on the 19th century, and one on the 20th, with the focus on the above-mentioned “lifestyle” diseases. Another chapter goes international and looks at tropical diseases.

For sure, pandemics are mentioned, but are not detailed. Thus, a couple of sentences on the 1918-19 influenza pandemic; likewise HIV/AIDS, as well as possible epidemics, from Ebola and SARS. But that is about all.

Vaccines, now most topical, are also mentioned, as is the resistance of segments of the population to accepting them.

She also discussed the “nanny state” issue. Just how involved should the state be in ensuring that a person is healthy? Should the state be involved in trying to reduce cigarette and alcohol consumption? And how many push-ups a day are required, drill sergeant?

Overall, think the work is marred due to Berridge’s academic perspective. Thus, there is almost no descriptions of actual public health campaigns about changing people’s attitudes and behavior, but rather much ink is spilt naming the various organizational entities involved in public health (all potential purchasers, no doubt). Sometimes eye-glazingly so. “Academic turgid” as a prose style label. And I sensed a “cut and paste” aspect to her work, taking some chapters previously written, without realizing that she made the same point in one chapter and then in the next. Overall, rather disappointing for this normally excellent series.

Still, I found it a valuable read, particularly since it provided details of public health efforts outside the United States, where we still remain in deep doo-doo. Why oh, why? 3-stars for Berridge’s effort, who is a coeval.
2 people found this helpful
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Jason Wyckoff
2.0 out of 5 stars A tedious and unrewarding read
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020
This is not one of the better entries in the OUP Very Short Introductions series. The actual prose is clunky, tedious, and often vague, and key concepts are frequently left unclear. The level of detail is usually superficial at best. To be honest, even after finishing the book I'm not sure I can even explain what public health *is*.

As other reviewers have noted, the book focuses on the example of the UK, and tends to relegate discussion of other countries to brief mentions at the end of sections.

I'm somewhat surprised that OUP would publish this volume, given how unfavorably it compares to their Very Short Introductions to epidemiology, pandemics, and infectious disease, to name just a few examples.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Mary
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
Great if you need a quick reference
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Cliente Amazon
3.0 out of 5 stars O e-book Kindle não pode ser lido pelo e-reader Kindle
Reviewed in Brazil on May 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
Não está claramente especificado na página da apresentação do livro que o e-book não é compatível com o e-reader de sétima geração do e-reader Kindle.
O e-book só pode ser lido pelo aplicativo executado no sistema operacional Windows.
O livro é do meu interesse, apesar de não ter a facilidade de leitura no e-reader,
A minha sugestão é que isto fique muito claro na página do livro.
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Kshitiz Goliya
3.0 out of 5 stars Falls short of expectations
Reviewed in India on December 5, 2018
Verified Purchase
The book was mostly focused on public health in England. The author could have provided more examples especially response to global epidemics and public health campaigns such as anti-polio campaign in India. However, overall, irmt gives a nice explanation of public health.
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Jonathan Turner
2.0 out of 5 stars Dreadfully dry treatment of a fascinating topic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2022
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A dreadfully dry treatment of a fascinating topic. This history of public health touches on familiar themes of racism, sexism, social inequality, politics and medical pragmatism - but it’s an absolute slog to get through.
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lancslass
2.0 out of 5 stars I am sure there are much better books out there
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
Badly written but contains some worthwhile information. It isn't very academic and it isn't very simple either so I am unsure about who this is written for.
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