Sandro Galea is the Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the School of Public Health, the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health, and Vice Provost of Interdisciplinary Initiatives at WashU Bursky School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. He has been named an epidemiology innovator by Time, a top voice in healthcare by LinkedIn, and is one of the most cited social scientists in the world. His writing and work are featured regularly in national and global public media. He is the author of Well and The Contagion Next Time, among many other books. A native of Malta, he has served as a field physician for Doctors Without Borders and has held academic and leadership positions at Boston University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

• AcknowledgmentsDedication IntroductionWhy Think about Health Now? Why health?1. Why Does Health Matter?2. The Moral, Aesthetic, and Intellectual Case for Health3. An Imperfect Health4. Having the Right Conversation, at the Right Time5. We May Disagree Foundational Values 6. Values, and the Work of Improving the Health of all Populations7. Centering Proportionality 8. A Respect for Human Rights and Autonomy for All9. Balancing our Moral and Empiric Imperatives10. Admitting Better, Encouraging Optimism11. Avoiding Self-satisfaction12. The Obligation for Humility and Compassion 13. Creating Dignity as the Ultimate Goal of Health14. A Global Health?15. On Speaking Freely to Create Better Health 16. Leaving behind Values Disguised as Science Health at All Costs?17. Health at All Costs?18. Reconciling Context, Ability, Effort, and Merit19. The Integrity of the Health Mission 20. Who Speaks for Health? The Role of Communities, or Not21. What We Owe, and Do Not Owe, the Past22. What is Reasonable? The Potential, and Limits, of Science23. The Potential, and Limits, of Science24. Consequential, Rigorous, Inquisitive Population Health Science25. "We must Disenthrall Ourselves"26. The Biases that Inform what We Write and What We Think27. The Biases Embedded in How Health Institutions are Structured28. Certainty as the Great Enemy of Tolerance The Actions that Generate Health29. The Right Amount of Performance30. The Right Amount of Paternalism31. The Right Amount of Risk32. The Problem of Bad Behavior33. Can We Deal with Everything All at Once? Should We?34. The New Radicalism, Reclaiming Core Values Grounded in Reason Uncomfortable Ideas for Health35. Re-engaging with Complexity36. The Ineluctable Role of Persuasion37. Making a Moral Argument without Moral Bullying 38. Avoiding Passion Plays39. A Rhetoric of Trust and Inclusion40. On Creating Structures that Allow All People to Live as They Choose to41. The Importance of Strategic Restraint, Avoiding the Excesses of Public Health42. Why We Should Work with People in Places We Disagree with43. The Astonishing Privilege of Being in a High-income Country What We Need to Think about when We Think about Health44. The Healthiest Time in Human History45. "Not as a Matter of Charity"46. The Input Problem47. Health as a Public and Private Responsibility48. The Political Decision that Health Matters ConclusionThinking about Health Tomorrow Notes Index

Why Health is a timely and evidenced based exposé on our various concepts of healthiness and the values and beliefs that drive efforts to achieve it. It is essential reading for those who seek to understand the quest for optimal health for themselves, their communities and why it matters.