ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book sets the theoretical bases that connect development, globalization and health. It illustrates how the concept of development was generated, and how it evolved in the context of the international agenda, situating health in that context. The book analyzes how the rise in the importance of global health has been accompanied by the increasing need for global estimates of health indicators. It describes the need for global health estimates based on statistical modeling that has evolved in a new field referred to as “science of global health estimates”. The book reviews the sources of data and the main challenges of health information metrics and systems, shows how global health estimates are produced. It discusses the institutions involved and their funding, and reflects some of the contemporary challenges in global health governance.
