Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Mar 7:7:2.
doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-7-2.

Slum health: diseases of neglected populations

Lee W Riley  1 , Albert I Ko, Alon Unger, Mitermayer G Reis
Affiliations

Slum health: diseases of neglected populations

Lee W Riley et al. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. .

Abstract

Background: Urban slums, like refugee communities, comprise a social cluster that engenders a distinct set of health problems. With 1 billion people currently estimated to live in such communities, this neglected population has become a major reservoir for a wide spectrum of health conditions that the formal health sector must deal with.

Discussion: Unlike what occurs with refugee populations, the formal health sector becomes aware of the health problems of slum populations relatively late in the course of their illnesses. As such, the formal health sector inevitably deals with the severe and end-stage complications of these diseases at a substantially greater cost than what it costs to manage non-slum community populations. Because of the informal nature of slum settlements, and cultural, social, and behavioral factors unique to the slum populations, little is known about the spectrum, burden, and determinants of illnesses in these communities that give rise to these complications, especially of those diseases that are chronic but preventable. In this article, we discuss observations made in one slum community of 58,000 people in Salvador, the third largest city in Brazil, to highlight the existence of a spectrum and burden of chronic illnesses not likely to be detected by the formal sector health services until they result in complications or death. Lack of health-related data from slums could lead to inappropriate and unrealistic allocation of health care resources by the public and private providers. Similar misassumptions and misallocations are likely to exist in other nations with large urban slum populations.

Summary: Continued neglect of ever-expanding urban slum populations in the world could inevitably lead to greater expenditure and diversion of health care resources to the management of end-stage complications of diseases that are preventable. A new approach to health assessment and characterization of social-cluster determinants of health in urban slums is urgently needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A favela in Salvador, Brazil.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A johpadpatti in Chennai, India.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Neuwirth R. Shadow cities: a billion squatters, a new urban world. London , Routledge; 2005. p. 335.
    1. United Nations . In: United Nations Millennium Declaration. Assembly TG, editor. United Nations; 2000.
    1. United Nations Human Settlements Programme . The challenge of slums: global report on human settlements 2003. London and Sterling , Earthscan Publications Ltd; 2003. p. 310.
    1. Sclar ED, Garau P, Carolini G. The 21st century health challenge of slums and cities. Lancet. 2005;365:901–903. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71049-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Strong K., Mathers, C., Leeder, S., Beaglehole, R. Preventing chronic diseases: how many lives can we save? Lancet. 2005;366:1578–1582. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67341-2. - DOI - PubMed