WHY URBAN HEALTH MATTERS

World Health Day 2010

Urban Health Matters

• Virtually all population growth will be in urban areas over the next 30 years.

• Global poverty is concentrating in cities.

• Urbanization can have positive and negative impacts on health.

• Action is needed now to ensure cities are safe and healthy.

Urbanization and health

This year ...

• 1 billion people will wake up in an urban slum.

• 60% of UB population live in periurban slums

• 170 million urban residents will not have access to a latrine.

• 60% of UB ger population have unhygienic latrine

• Nearly 1.2 million people will die from urban air pollution.

Slums are often in regions with fewer resources

• Urban Slum Incidence, 2001

Urban settings and health

Cities confronted by a triple threat:

• infectious diseases exacerbated by poor living conditions;

• noncommunicable diseases and conditions fueled by tobacco use,

• unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol; and injuries, road accidents, violence and crime.

Housing and living conditions

• Inadequate, overcrowded or deteriorating housing increases the health risks from environmental hazards, violence and crime, and is associated with

• injuries,• respiratory problems,• infectious diseases, and• mental health problems.

Impacts of access on urban diet

• Insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables by urban residents reported by half of the world's countries (World Health Survey, 2003).

• Urban poor in the developed and developing world often rely on street food, fast food, processed and cheap food.

• This contributes to vitamin/mineral deficiencies, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and dental problems.

Climate change

• Cities contribute to more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Cities account for 75% of energy consumption and similar portion of all wastes.

• City dwellers are especially vulnerable to consequences of climate change – heat waves, increasing levels of air pollution, rising sea levels in coastal areas.

World Health Day 2010 – calls to action