Academic Press Global Healthcare in the 21st Century: Challenges, Innovations, and Pathways to Equity

Global Healthcare in the 21st Century: Challenges, Innovations, and Pathways to Equity provides a compact, authoritative, and up-to-date analysis of healthcare systems across the world at a time of unprecedented medical, technological, and geopolitical change. The book presents a comparative analysis of healthcare across 52 countries, spanning all four World Bank income categories and representing 82% of the global population. It examines global population dynamics, epidemiological trends, and the pathophysiology of major disease groups while highlighting persistent inequities in access, affordability, and quality of care. Equal emphasis is placed on therapeutic advances and preventive strategies, including vaccination and public health interventions. In addition, the book explores transformative innovations such as artificial intelligence in drug discovery, gene and stem cell therapies, transplantation medicine, and next-generation imaging. External forces shaping healthcare―climate change, armed conflict, pandemics, economic constraints, and recent political developments, including the impact of US health research policies―are critically assessed. Presents a data-driven, comparative analysis of healthcare in 52 countries covering 82% of the global population Includes integrated coverage of disease burden, novel biomedical technologies, and external geopolitical factors Provides actionable insights and policy-relevant recommendations to improve healthcare access and equity