Publication: threats to respiratory health in slums

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.