Public health in developing countries to suffer most from climate change

Climate Change and Developing-Country Cities, one of the articles in the current supplement to Springer's Journal of Urban Health focuses on the implications for environmental health and equity. It reviews the specific health vulnerabilities of urban populations in developing countries and highlights the range of large direct health effects of energy policies that are concentrated in urban areas.

More information on these and other measures to protect public health and promote health equity in urban settings is now freely accessible online in a special supplement to the May/June 2007 issue of the Journal of Urban Health. The 15 articles in the supplement were issued by the Knowledge Network on Urban Settings of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health.

"Achieving health equity in the urban setting requires action toward fairness and equity within and between countries. Engaging the people themselves, urban communities and multiple sectors in the urban development process is a must," explains Tord Kjellstrom, coauthor of the supplement's introduction. This supplement is a key means of sustaining momentum for action and research on social determinants of health in urban settings.

Highlights of the supplement, entitled "Achieving Health Equity in Urban Settings," include reports regarding the influence of climate change on health status, the post-disaster response in Indonesia, and improvements needed to the design of housing and shelter programs in developing countries. Leading global experts from the WHO, Pan American Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and major research institutions including the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) are among the authors. -Springer