Colin Mathers who leads the Global Burden of Disease group in WHO has confirmed that, in the 2004 GBD, 13.1% of global Daily Adjusted Life Years are attributable to mental or neurological disorders. While the proportions vary very widely from about 10% in low income countries to over 25% in high income countries, it is clear that there is a need for understanding how to address this issue. This volume aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the public health principles of mental and neurological disorders. This vast range of health conditions affects people across the life course, from developmental disabilities in childhood, to schizophrenia and substance abuse in adults, and dementia in old age. Despite this diversity, they all share many features: they are mostly mediated through brain dysfunction or abnormalities, are often chronic in course, typically benefit from multi-component interventions, and are amongst the most neglected conditions in global health. The volume will bring together chapters from the Psychiatry, Neurology, Substance Abuse and Child Development sections of the Encyclopedia of Public Health. The volume will be the first comprehensive text on a public health approach to this diverse group of health conditions and has no obvious competitor.

In this book, Alistair Woodward and Tony Blakely tell the extraordinary story of life and death in Aotearoa New Zealand from first Maori settlement to the 21st century. Did Maori or Europeans live longer 1769? How did Pakeha New Zealanders become the healthiest, most long lived people on the face of the globe (and why did Maori not enjoy the same life expectancy)? What caused New Zealanders' health and longevity to be surpassed by other nations in the late twentieth century? Through quantitative analysis, presented in accessible graphics and lively text, the authors answer these questions by analysing the impact of nutrition and disease, immigration and unemployment, alcohol and obesity, medicine and vaccination. The result is a powerful argument about why we live and why we die in this country (and what we might do about it). The Health Country? is important reading for anyone interested in the story of New Zealanders and a decisive intervention in debates about health, disease and medicine.