Urban health in low- and middle-income countries
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199661756.003.0225
Over the next 30 years, low- and middle-income countries will pass a historic threshold, becoming for the first time more urban than rural. This chapter explores the implications for urban public health. To date, health research and policy discussions have been overly concerned with urban–rural differences in health (which generally favour urban areas except for HIV/AIDS), and insufficient attention has been paid to the wide disparities in health that exist within urban areas. Empirical studies show clearly that the urban poor—especially those who live in slums, without adequate drinking water, sanitation, and housing—face health risks that are similar to and sometimes markedly worse than the risks facing rural villagers. To meet the health challenges of an urbanizing era, the public health sector must forge partnerships with other urban agencies and sectors at the municipal and regional as well as the national level.
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