Lawrence O. Gostin, Global Health Law (2014)

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Book Review

Lawrence Gostin’s excellent book Global Health Law was published in March 2014, the same month the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that a worrying new batch of cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever had been detected in West Africa. Reading the book from the vantage point of the unfolding outbreak added a surreal dimension. It was a reminder of how rapid and unpredictable shocks to global health can be. (Gostin mentions Ebola, but only as one of several emerging infectious diseases that threaten public health and security.) The book also provided an historical lens on the daily media accounts of the international response to the outbreak.