VIDEO: Time to put the words ‘urban’ and ‘health’ together, says Dr Boufford at WHS Regional Meeting

The men and women of the future will live in urban areas. According to WHO, by 2050, over 68% of the world’s population will live in cities. And while cities can bring opportunities, they can bring challenges for health as well, such as infectious and noncommuinicable diseases, pollution, violence and injuries.

The IAP Urban Health and Well-being Working Group has been established to address these problems, and its coordinator Jo Ivey Boufford recently co-chaired the Healthy Cities panel at the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2019 on Kish Island, Iran.

Panellists discussed how healthy cities can help achieving SDGs such as #2 Zero Hunger, #6 Clean water and sanitation, #11 Sustainable cities and communities, #13 Climate action, and #16 Peace, justice and strong institutions. 

In this short video Dr. Boufford explains why it’s time to put the words ‘urban’ and ‘health’ together.

The panel included:

John Ashton Medical Doctor, World Health Organization, United Kingdom (co-chair)

Mazda Adli, Academic Member, Charite  Universitatsmedizin Berlin & Fliedner Klinik Berlin, Germany

Charlotte Marchandise Franquet, President of WHO Healthy Cities French Network, France

Ehsan Ranjbar, Assiatant Professor of Urban Design, Tarbiat Modares University, I.R. of Iran

Bertino Somaini CEO, Public Health Promotion Switzerland