Hidden Cities II: WHO/UN HABITAT Global Report on Urban Health

Purpose: The WHO/UN HABITAT Global Report on Urban Health provides new evidence to empower readers to seek out and apply solutions to inequitable health conditions in urban areas. The new report deploys updated data and new... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose: The WHO/UN HABITAT Global Report on Urban Health provides new evidence to empower readers to seek out and apply solutions to inequitable health conditions in urban areas. The new report deploys updated data and new analytical approaches to equity analysis, and an orientation toward evidence of solutions. This will include an exploration into the linkages between sectors beyond health, and their impact on health equity in urban areas. The report looks back upon the Millennium Development Goals and how health inequity in urban areas has constrained their achievement. It looks toward to a new era of global health priorities in the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage, and the central role of urban health in their success.

Methods: The global report analyzes progress in urban health equity through the lens of the MDGs as well as the forthcoming SDGs and Universal Health Coverage. Analysis of the DHS and MICS provides the core of the analysis in 99 countries. The Urban Health Index methodology provides a composite measure of health and its determinants in a selection of cities. Partner contributions to the report deliver additional analysis with respect to access to key determinants of health in the urban environment, particularly those for which the evidence of urban solutions are the most scientifically compelling.

Conclusion: The global report demonstrates that while considerable progress has been made in the achievement of the MDGs, inequity in urban areas has constrained their success. There continues to be a critical need to build equity across the post-MDG agenda. Urban environments are venues of persistent health inequity as well as ideal venues of opportunity for making significant advances in the post-MDG agenda.