Would you like to know what we recommend for research and opportunities in policy making to improve respiratory health in urban slums? Read our publication in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine: https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2213-2600%2816%2930245-4
More than half the world’s population lives in urban areas, and an estimated 863 million people currently live in urban slums. Although urbanisation is usually coupled with economic development, rural-to-urban migration can result in negative implications for respiratory health. Slum residents who live in informal settlements and who commonly have inadequate access to health services are at a particularly high risk of being aff ected by the dual burden of infectious and non-communicable respiratory diseases over the course of their lives.
The challenge for cities in low-income and middle-income countries is to mitigate emerging risk factors
and prioritise expanded access to preventive care for chronic diseases, while still managing infectious
diseases.