Multiple environmental stresses and rapid social change reinforce the need for better evidence – evidence that is robust and the product of interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration.

The potential benefits to health from sound environmental policies are significant.

Human health is a key indicator of sustainable development. We need to monitor changes in human population health in order to evaluate progress on global sustainability.

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Global health refers to health issues that transcend national borders and whose solutions require international cooperation.

Global health issues include both the major killers of the past (malnutrition, infant mortality and diarrhoeal diseases) and of the future (cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, cancer and diabetes).

It also includes preventative activities (targeting populations) and clinical care (for individuals), as well as the interrelationships among humans, domestic animals, wildlife and ecosystems.

Health equity – access to good health for all – is a central aspiration of global health, which is therefore transdisciplinary and requires scientific evidence beyond that of the traditional health sciences.