ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns issues situated around the topic of health. Given the international pandemic that hit the globe in 2020 this is a timely subject area. However, as the co-authors illustrate issues around health and the dividing lines that these social problems bring, are always with us. This chapter starts by asking the question what do we mean by health? The authors provide a range of definitions and measures of health that have been widely used. They then go on to think about health in a rather surprising manner, as a business, Recognising that health is an important business in the UK, is an important part of understanding the types of social problems associated with it. This is because it will affect the level of health service funding it attracts from government as well as the private sector. As might be expected in a textbook of this type these social aspects of health are further explored. Poverty, poor housing conditions and a range of social factors, including social class, gender and ethnicity can all impact upon our health. Arguably the broadest social issue of all is also given time for discussion in this chapter, climate change. How climate change should be dealt with in the context of health is an intriguing and difficult challenge that the authors discuss in some detail. All in all, this chapter throws up some surprising debates about how we think of health and public health in our society and everyday lives.
