Health systems perspectives – infectious diseases of poverty

Please see Additional file 1 for translations of the abstract into the six official working languages of the United Nations.“When we assess inequalities…in being able to avoid preventable morbidity, or escapable hunger, or premature mortality, we are not merely examining differences in well-being…(T)he available data regarding the realization of disease, hunger and early mortality tell us a great deal about the presence or absence of certain central basic freedoms [1].”The right to health as a fundamental human right is enshrined in the World Health Organization’s charter and has been reaffirmed in international agreements spanning decades. This new journal reminds us of the essential characteristic of poverty as a violent abuse of human rights. The context of poverty – its social, political and economic dimensions – remain in the reader’s mind as evidence is provided on technical solutions to managing the infectious diseases that afflict poor populations world-wide [2]. Explorations into these political economic factors that increase the risk of the poor for certain diseases are beyond the scope of this journal, as its focus remains more heavily centered on public health aspects of managing infectious diseases. Yet its title and intended scope are reminders of the extreme inequalities that exist between and within countries worldwide, with devastating consequences for human and economic development.The past decade’s Commission on the Social Determinates of Health provided a pathway across the social science and public health disciplines, and remains a useful source of good thinking on a set of complex issues [3]. Today health policy is currently being framed in terms of achieving universal health coverage [4]. Although financing is a major element of universal health coverage (through reducing financial barriers to needed health care and ensuring an adequately funded public health system), other health system elements are as important: human resources, service deli