Joav Merrick 
Public Health Yearbook 2014 

In this Public Health Yearbook 2014 we will touch upon several public health topics like Bedouin health, obesity in the Caribbean region, health in rural India, smoking in Atlanta, quality of life in persons with intellectual disability and trying to understand substance abuse. We all long for a life of purpose and fulfillment and striving for high quality of life for us and those we care for is a powerful motivator. Many busy people dream of lazing by a pool fanned by a soft summer breeze, but this does not last, because a short time of rest and replenishment is quickly replaced by boredom and a sense of purposelessness. Quality of life is much deeper than material comfort. Sadly in our world today, many people live lives lacking in meaning and value: the unemployed, the underemployed, those with disabilities who would like to contribute to society but are deprived the opportunity. Their quality of life is not what it could be. In this book you will find many chapters that discuss the many aspects of quality of life in persons with intellectual disability within a social context and we also discuss how we need to prevent drug addiction in our youth and establish prevention programs to decrease the devastating toll it has and will take on billions of human beings in this century and beyond. We must be concerned about drug addiction and its effect on our youth including their alarming use of nonmedical analgesics. It is important to study youth in their communities and thus support more community-based research protocols.