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Received 8 February 2000; revised 2 May 2000; accepted for publication 20726ne 2000

I I

1 Book Reviews 1

Health Economics for Developing Countries: a Practical Guide. S. Witter. T. Ensor. M. lowett & R. Thompson. London and Oxford: Macmillan”Education, 2000. viiiS296pp. Price E7.50. ISBN O-333-75205-8.

The applicability of health economdc and even economic concepts is not fully understood by policy makers in developing countries. But these concepts are essential in developing health policy in any resource-limited en- vironment, and policy makers need to understand the principles-although not necessarily under the title of health economics, This textbook provides an excellent practical guide for non-economists, policy makers and people involved in the health sector. The authors are experienced in the application of health economics in developing countries with a track record of successful consultancy work as well as in teaching. The book uses a question-and-answer approach touching on the different economic problems that might be encountered while designing health-care policy. Divided into 14 chapters, the book covers topics in health economics from the most basic of demand and supply, costing, and economic- evaluation methods through to the more complex, hotly debated current topics, such as the public and private roles in health-care provision, efficiency and decentrali- zation. Each chapter is accompanied with an acceptable list of references for further reading and several examples tailored to the particular situation of different developing countries to illustrate the concepts, However, a note of caution needs to be made in relation with the outdating of some country case examples cited in the book. In chapter 10, for example, ir is stated that ‘in Malawi, governments allow private doctors to use public facilities for their patients...‘, which is no longer correct.

An alternative text for those experienced in health economics and interested in developing countries is a World Bank publication Priwipples ofHealth Economics for Developing &ount&s by William J&k, but this is noi a book for the uninitiated. The current text bv Witter and colleagues is, in contrast, an excellent int&duccion for non-economists, and deserves a place in any Public Health or health-care administrators’ course.

Antonieta Medha Lara LiverpooE School oj Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place Liverpool L3 5QA, UK

University of Liverpool 70 Pembroke Place Liverpool L69 3BX, UK

Tom Walley

Pathology of Infectious Diseases. Volume 1, Helminthiases. W. M. Meyers (editor), R. C. Neafie, A. M. Marty & D. J. Wear (co-editors). Washington DC: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, American Registry of Pathology, 2000. xxviii+53Opp+xxxii. Price US$ 145.00. ISBN l-881041-65-4.

This is Volume 1 of a new hard-back series of illustrated clinico-pathological texts from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), that will replace the 1976 Z-volume fascicle on infectious disease pathology. It covers all the pathogenic worm infec- tions of humans, plus much additional material on artefacts that can resemble parasites in tissues, and on worms that may be found external to humans but are not invasive. Arthropods will feature in a later vo- lume.

As usual from the AFIP, the text is very strong on taxonomy and there is extensive tabulation of helminth morphology. All the chapters share the same format of epidemiology, morphology, life-cycle and transmission, clinical features and pathogenesis, pathological features, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, treatment (very brief), and references. The organization is by helminth genus. Fortunately, the book does not pretend to be a complete medical text on worm infections, and con- centrates on aspects in which the authors are expert- the description and illustration of parasites and the effects they induce in human tissues. There is some appropriate experimental material included as well. What is complete is the coverage of all the worms that, even rarely, affect humans. The index at the end is comprehensive.

Virtually all the illustrations are in colour with, oddly, just a few in black and white in the schistosomiasis chapter. These show how much more helpful colour is. If I had to note a weak spot it would be the rather short sections on pathogenesis of disease, where the refer- ences (and concepts) are often old. But that is a small criticism of an outstanding book, which will be used by postgraduate students of helminth disease who want to know how worms damage people, and by diagnostic pathologists who want to identify a parasite. It contains much more illustrative and taxonomic detail than the only ‘rival text’ (which shares several of the same authors): The Pathology ofinfectioous Diserases, 2 volumes, edited by D. Connor et al., 1997, published by Appleton & Lange.

Sebastian Lucas GKT Department of HistopatholoD St Thomas’s Hospital London SE1 7EH, UK