Vulnerability and everyday health risks of urban informal settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

More than half of the world population lives in the cities and around one billion in poor urban areas. These numbers are projected to increase, while Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest rate of informal settlements due his rapid urbanization. The urban informal settlements of Sub-Saharan Africa house everyday health risks. These risks have considerable cumulative impacts on the wellbeing and health of the urban vulnerable group. Despite the public health consequences of urbanization and the increase of informal settlements number in African cities, there is a paucity in data about the risks at small scale and the vulnerability in poor urban areas. Through the database search engine of MEDLINE, WHO Library and Information Networks for Knowledge and website of Urban Africa Risk Knowledge; from information of the existing literature, this paper tried to analyse the everyday health risks, and vulnerabilities in urban informal settlement in Sub-Saharan Africa region. A search combining keywords associated with health risks and informal settlement in Sub-Saharan Africa were used to identify the relevant documents, and this search yielded 86 articles, of which 15 met the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. The risks of communicable diseases due to inadequate sanitation have been the most frequent subjects of study. Informal settlers in Sub-Saharan Africa face everyday health risks arising from lack of clean water, adequate sanitation, and life in overcrowding houses. Consequently, there is a burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, undernourishment and injuries. The most vulnerable group is children under five with a high rate of mortality. Everyday health risks in urban informal settlements must be taken into account for a better understanding of the full spectrum of urban risks. This is essential in the establishment of efficient public health policies and intervention in urban areas.