World Health Day 1996: healthy cities for better life: editorial

World Health • 49th Yeor, No. 1, Jonuory-februory 1996 3 Editorial World Health Day 1996 Healthy cities for better life Or Hiroshi Naka;ima, Director-General of WHO. ' he proportion of people in the world living in cities is escalat- ing. Many of the world's cities are expanding far beyond their mid- 20th-century frontiers . The result? Hundreds of millions of people - the world's urbanites as they are called - are now living in conditions that are detrimental to their health and even endangering their lives. "Healthy Cities", the theme chosen by WHO for World Health Day 1996, ad- dresses this crisis. In 1990 already, the health of at least 600 million people living in cities in developing countries was being threatened by lack of food, clean water and shelter. Overcrowd- ing, inadequate waste disposal, hazardous working conditions, polluted air, and street violence were contributing to what have now become the routine, but no less intolerable, risks of city life. Since 1990, on the whole, the situation has not been getting any better. By the end of the century, more than half of the developing world's population will be living in urban areas and thus exposed to major health hazards. Against this alarming backdrop was born WHO's Healthy Cities Programme. The aim of the Pro- gramme is to call on local govern- ments and community associations to form coalitions for improving urban health and solving environ- mental problems. To date, the Healthy Cities Programme has been extremely successful. It has been adopted as a model for promoting urban health - particularly in low-income popula- tion groups- in over 1000 cities around the world. Many city coun- cils are using the "Healthy Cities" slogan to publicize health and envi- ronmental issues. And in some places, the concept has been broad- ened to include other sectors of society, such as "Healthy Islands", "Healthy Villages", and even "Healthy Schools". Cities committed to improving the health of their populations through concerted, participatory and multisectoral approaches are linking their efforts and sharing their experi- ences through national and regional networks that exploit the many existing channels for the exchange of goods, services, technology and information. Most encouragingly, a global network now seems to be emerging. International efforts to improve urban living conditions are being undertaken by WHO together with other United Nations agencies, in particular the UN Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS), UNDP, ILO and the World Bank. In June 1996, representatives from these agencies will gather in Istanbul for "Habitat II" , the second UN Conference on Human Settlements, at which WHO's Healthy Cities Programme will be of pivotal interest. The health of urban populations deserves our urgent attention. If we continue to let our cities grow without proper planning, local government authorities will be over- whelmed and unable to provide even the most basic conditions for health such as housing, employment, and safe environment. At a time of ex- plosive urban growth, the health of city populations is a challenge for all concerned with human development -from municipal and national au- thorities to international health and development organizations. Through its Healthy Cities Programme, WHO has taken up the challenge. • Hiroshi Noko;imo, M. D., Ph. D. WHAT WORLD HEALTH DAY MEANS World Health Doy, 7 April1996, offers oil participating cities around the world the opportunity to demonstrote the significance of what is being achieved with the Healthy Cities approach. WHO hos been encouraged by the many city leaders, professionals ond citizens who hove token up this challenge. For WHO, World Health Doy offers valuable links with on active ond vibrant network of Healthy Cities in every region of the world, thus opening up ond developing the dimension of city-level work in international public health. On the basis of experience in some 1 000 cities, Healthy Cities will be presented to the "Hobitot 11" Human Settlements Summit in June 1996 os on example of "best practice" in urban monogement.