Published in:
Open Access
01-08-2016
Urban Health Research in Africa: Themes and Priority Research Questions
Authors:
Tolu Oni, Warren Smit, Richard Matzopoulos, Jo Hunter Adams, Michelle Pentecost, Hanna-Andrea Rother, Zulfah Albertyn, Farzaneh Behroozi, Olufunke Alaba, Mamadou Kaba, Claire van der Westhuizen, Maylene Shung King, Naomi S. Levitt, Susan Parnell, Estelle V. Lambert, RICHE members
Published in:
Journal of Urban Health
|
Issue 4/2016
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Excerpt
In Africa, urbanization and urban growth are dramatically restructuring the nature of cities. The growing majority of urban dwellers now live in informal conditions that, without access to basic services or public amenities, expose residents to greater health risk, and health-care systems are unable to provide affordable or comprehensive cover. The differential exposure to these urban conditions is compounded by social and economic vulnerability, resulting in health inequities. Yet despite pressing needs driven by Africa’s considerable and complex burden of disease and high levels of health inequity, urban health and urban health equity have not yet emerged as major research and policy priorities in Africa, and as such South Africa, like many other African countries, lags behind in addressing these issues. …