Health care is big business, and any big business has its localization potential. That’s probably one reason interest in our health care issues is always relatively high — that, and the field has more regulations, rules and linguistic concerns than many other areas of localization. Complex subjects and potentially high revenues, that’s the allure of health care for many people across the globe. Though perhaps I’m being overly pragmatic, because of course people also go into it for humanitarian purposes.

Whatever your reason for interest, we have something to pique it. Nancy Locke starts this issue by giving a blow-by-blow report of localization health care conference Critical Link 7 (which occurs only once every three years) in our news section. Jumping to the industry focus, Idalina Gomes-Taylor offers some insight into the challenges of project management in the life sciences. Next, Izabel S. Arocha and Lola Bendana take a look at two different approaches to interpreting culture in health care. After that, Libor Safar gives a detailed overview of translating for generic pharmaceuticals in the European Union. Hélène Pielmeier offers us a sidebar on translation metrics for health care companies. And in the Takeaway, Nataly Kelly has some parting wisdom about globalization and health care.

John Yunker, Kate Edwards, John Freivalds, Terena Bell and Lori Thicke all have columns in this issue — covering everything from becoming a language generalist to bourbon to content management. Richard Sikes also reviews open source platform translate5.

Just remember through all this: safeguard your own health as much as you safeguard details about health in general. Santé