Global Experts in Urban Health Meet to Address the Challenges and Opportunities of Urbanization

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NEW YORK, September 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The 2017 International Conference on Urban Health (26-29 September, Coimbra, Portugal) will gather more than 600 stakeholders from 65 countries to advance understanding of actions needed to create equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development.

By 2050, an estimated 70% of the world's population will live in cities, with more than 90% of urban population growth in low/middle income countries. Cities, the engines of economic and social development, must be at the forefront of tackling critical global health and development issues.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize cities for the first time in goal #11 and UN-Habitat's New Urban Agenda provides a framework for managing the growth and development of cities. Critical to this is the health of the population. Health is not only the result of health care. The decisions made in all sectors including government, housing, transportation, education, economic development, energy and environment can determine the health of the population. Government must partner with business and civil society to create healthy cities and to address health inequities. This conference, Health Equity: The New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, will explore the evidence and experience that policymakers need to address the challenges and opportunities for health in urban environments.

Organized by the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH), the University of Coimbra and Elsevier, the conference offers an interdisciplinary programme, where experts from urban planning, architecture, transportation, housing, environmental health, public health, and health care delivery will share solutions with policymakers and practitioners from high, middle and low- income settings.

Conference speakers include representatives from the World Health Organisation, UN-Habitat, the European Commission and many global programmes and research establishments.

Sessions will explore the need for integrated planning and implementation of interventions in policymaking; global epidemiological, demographic, and societal changes and the opportunities and challenges they present for policies and programs; effective governance; evidence-based decision making in urban planning and management; models for achieving high-quality health care delivery; and strategies for sustainable urbanization.

"Attention to cities is growing more visible worldwide and The International Society for Urban Health is committed to assuring that strategies that advance urban health are priorities for decision making across the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to assure that all individuals and neighbourhoods within cities have access to clean water and sanitation, food security, adequate shelter, promoting gender equality and women's empowerment," said Dr. Shamim Talukder, ISUH's President and CEO of Eminence Associates for Social Development in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

ISUH is the only global organisation focusing exclusively on urban health and committed to advancing the generation, exchange, and application of high quality evidence and experience in urban health by bringing together academics, policy makers, implementers, and community leaders to attain health equity in urban settings worldwide. Global conference partners are the International Council for Science (ICSU) and Inter Academy Partnership-Health.

For more information: visit http://www.icuh2017.org, follow @IS_UrbanHealth #ICUH2017.

Contact: Gina Ravosa, +1-212-822-7285 office | +1-917-881-1791 mobile | [email protected]

SOURCE The International Society for Urban Health