First published in 1973, Short Textbook of Public Health Medicine for the Tropics, Fourth Edition was designed to provide medical students and other trainees with an introduction to the principles of public health with special reference to the situation in developing countries of the tropics.

Rather than attempting to provide a detailed comprehensive account, the book retains the approach from earlier editions that stresses basic principles illustrated by selected examples.

Infectious diseases feature strongly in the textbook and diseases are grouped epidemiologically, based on the mode of transmission and the public health approaches for their control. This fourth edition also highlights the global epidemiology of Type II diabetes and effects from smoking as examples of the growing incidence of chronic disease in developing countries.

Written primarily for the developing world, the book recognizes the wide diversity in the situation in developing countries and stresses basic principles that can be adapted to local situations.