Urban Policies and Health In Developing Countries: The Case of Maputo (Mozambique) and Cochabamba (Bolivia)

Urban planning and related policies can contribute to improvement in health. Recent epidemiological and quantitative Health Impact Assessment (HIA) studies in Europe and North America suggest that a change from passive (car) to active transportation (cycling, walking) and public transport in daily l...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Rojas Rueda, David, Gascon, Mireia, Torrico, Sergio, Torrico, Faustino, Manaca, Maria Nélia, Plasència, Antoni, Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Recursos:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/101544
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/101544
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Política urbana
Salut pública
Moçambic
Cochabamba (Bolívia : Departament)
Urban policy
Public health
Mozambique
Cochabamba (Bolívia)
Descrição
Resumo:Urban planning and related policies can contribute to improvement in health. Recent epidemiological and quantitative Health Impact Assessment (HIA) studies in Europe and North America suggest that a change from passive (car) to active transportation (cycling, walking) and public transport in daily life could improve health. HIA studies are still largely lacking in low and middle-income countries. We conducted a scoping study to evaluate the availability of data to conduct quantitative HIA in two cities from two low-income countries. We collected information through interviews with different local agents, from the National Institute of Statistics and by conducting field work to identify the built environment and mobility characteristics in the respective cities. Conducting a quantitative HIA in Maputo (Mozambique) is currently not possible, mainly because there is no appropriate data on mortality, road traffic accidents and physical activity of the general population. However, in Cochabamba (Bolivia) it might be possible when the mobility plan will be available (currently under development), in which data on traffic flows, mobility surveys and transport modal shares will become available. The current paper describes two examples of the opportunities and difficulties to conduct quantitative HIA in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the limited availability of data (quantitatively and qualitatively) on transport and urban planning and health outcomes.