With population spike, cities must focus on health, sustainability: WHO

AS more than 4.4 billion people, over half of humanity, now live in urban areas, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called on national and city leaders to transform urban areas into engines of health, equity and sustainability.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT @ New Delhi

Making the call on the occasion of World Cities Day, the WHO said that in cities health, inequality, environment and economy intersect in powerful and dramatic ways, creating complex risks and unique opportunities for progress.

"While health challenges loom in all urban settings, the worst health outcomes are often concentrated in slums and informal settlements, with residents enduring unsafe housing, inadequate sanitation, food insecurity, and rising exposure to floods and heat. Today, 1.1 billion people live in these conditions, a number expected to triple by 2050," it said.