The raison d'être for this book is to draw attention to what we consider to be one of the largest and most important challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century – to improve and promote global health. By global health we mean the health of all people globally within sustainable and healthy living (local and global) conditions. In order to achieve this ambitious goal we need to understand, among other things, the value systems, modes of reasoning, and power structures that have driven and shaped the world over the past century. We also need to appreciate the unsustainability of many of our current consumption patterns before we can address threats to the health and lives of current and future generations.

The world and how we live in it have been changing dramatically over many centuries, but in the past fifty years change has been more rapid and profound than ever in the past. Many positive changes have been associated with impressive economic growth, advances in science and medicine and in social policies regarding access to health promotion. These include more equitable access to primary care, greater focus on a primary health-care approach, expansion of social programs to improve living conditions and a welcome increasing emphasis on the rights of all individuals to be equally respected.

Sadly, emphasis on the exaggerated expectations of the most privileged people has resulted in neglect of a large proportion of the world's population with consequent widening disparities in wealth and health.