Impact

by Karen Kasmauski and Peter Jaret

Foreword by Jimmy Carter

Introduction by Dr. Donald R. Hopkins

From the Rivers of Africa to the living rooms of North America, people face new and renewed threats to public health. Thirty previously unknown diseases have emerged in the past quarter century, among them SARS and West Nile virus. That's not all: Improper use of medicines and poor sanitation are partly to blame for allowing old foes like tuberculosis to thrive and develop stronger strains.

In Impact, acclaimed science and health writer Peter Jaret shows us the interconnectedness of the environment, family planning, clean water jet-age travel, imported pets, and a host of other factors that cause and spread diseases around the world today. Photographer Karen Kasmauski has traveled through five continents in over 15 years covering the global reach of diseases and the compassionate attempts of those who work to improve health.

Far from being solely a litany of what is wrong with the world's health, Impact is a profile of people and institutions striving to better the lives of millions, and succeeding. It documents the rise of children immunized against measles from 5 percent in the 1970s to more than 70 percent in the 1990s through the work of the Carter Center and countless others. It tells of women in Africa and Asia who have been taught that by simply filtering water through cloth, they can protect their families from debilitating illnesses. It portrays teen mothers and senior citizens making choices to better their health.

Some soldiers in the fight against disease are well known, such as Jimmy Carter, former President, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and head of the Carter Center. In his foreword President Carter speaks for all those who created this book when he says "Once we understand, we can care, and once we care, we can change."

(Hard cover only) 240 pages (Dimensions 10 1/2, 10, 1 inches)