December 2009: The December Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) includes an article titled “Slums, climate change and human health in sub-Saharan Africa.” The author, Brodie Ramin, explores how climate change and urbanization may interact, contributing to ill health in slums as a result of poor access to sanitation and clean drinking water.
The article concludes that African slum dwellers are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of rapid urbanization and global climate change. The author calls for further research to design appropriate adaptation policies that take into account the needs of vulnerable urban populations. [WHO December Bulletin]