These lessons need to be learned well and quickly, to assist with moving the forum for public health policy debate more into the public domain; beyond an essentially "in house" discourse between politicians, researchers and public health advocates. If a more engaged and informed community takes up a public health issue, government will be more likely to respond.  GIDEON: a comprehensive Web-based resource for geographic medicine GIDEON (Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network) is a web-based computer program designed for decision support and informatics in the field of Geographic Medicine. The first of four interactive modules generates a ranked differential diagnosis based on patient signs, symptoms, exposure history and country of disease acquisition. Additional options include syndromic disease surveillance capability and simulation of bioterrorism scenarios. The second module accesses detailed and current information regarding the status of 338 individual diseases in each of 220 countries. Over 50,000 disease images, maps and user-designed graphs may be downloaded for use in teaching and preparation of written materials. The third module is a comprehensive source on the use of 328 anti-infective drugs and vaccines, including a listing of over 9,500 international trade names. The fourth module can be used to characterize or identify any bacterium or yeast, based on laboratory phenotype. GIDEON is an up-to-date and comprehensive resource for Geographic Medicine. As of 2005, the world is confronted by 338 generic infectious diseases, scattered in a complex fashion across over 220 countries and regions. Each new day confronts health care workers with unexpected outbreaks, epidemics and heretofore unknown pathogens. Over 2,000 named bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites are known to cause human disease; and are confronted by 328 anti-infective agents and vaccines. Experts working in Health Geographics share an obvious and immediate need for comprehensive and timely data on the status of infection around the globe. A recent outline of GIDEON addressed uses for the Infectious Diseases clinician [1] . This review will focus on the Global Health aspect of the program.