Urban Public Health – An Imperative

Sir George Alleyne, a Pan American Health Organization Director Emeritus penned this Guardian article as a strong call to governments to take urbanization as a health imperative, and work to coordinate policies to deal with the health implications of rapid urbanization.As an urbanist, I am simply alarmed that we know more in this generation about housing, urbanization and health than we have previously, yet we are still so slow to act.

If you opened your eyes in a city today, chances are that you live in a unit of mass housing where you are one of 60,000 people living in a square mile in a city of an estimated 8 million. You are likely to be affected by air quality in your building, whether a work site or a living space, and because you most likely live near a main thoroughfare – road, train or waterway, you are affected by the vehicles that use these paths. The food you have for breakfast may come from a neighboring continent, and more likely you have no time to leave urban life for the relatively less hectic life in the country or rural area. Sound familiar?

Alleyne urges every minister to think of themselves as a minister of health, which I support. Communicable disease management is critical to sustaining health in urban areas, and we have the technology to connect health providers and patients, to create surveillance and to prevent further spread.

I would go further and suggest that the built environment affects our health through the quality of buildings and the air quality within. Structurally, the materials, techniques and oversight in many rapidly urbanized areas are moving at a pace that governments may not be able to keep. I would extend the responsibility of public health to private actors (architects, construction engineers, quantity surveyors) a, building inspectors and local governments who can make sure that the built environment does not crush us under collapsed buildings, illegal electrical fixtures or pipeline fires.

Our throats and lungs, among other parts of the respiratory system are suffering even more from increased  chronic respiratory illness caused by urbanization. Housing and health are inextricably linked, as the graphic from this 1992 WHO Commission on Health and Environment demonstrates.

The questions remain – Who will act? and How much further do we need to agitate for a new interest in urbanization and its effects on our health?

 

Sons Of Lwala: A Documentary of Hope

Have you reached here looking for more updates on the Lwala story – Please visit the website lwalacommunityalliance.org for the newest info on their remarkable story.

” Here, you belong to everyone” – It takes a village to raise a child, so what happens when the children return to fill the hand that raised them? The Sons of Lwala film about the medical duo of brothers who became doctors and returned to bring healthcare to their village in Kenya has to be told. Earlier in 2008, in Nashville, TN area held a benefit screening of the story of the two young doctors who returned to Lwala to build a hospital after being educated in the United States.

The Story

Milton and Fred Ochieng’ are two brothers from Kenya whose village sent them to America to become doctors. But after losing both parents to AIDS they are left with a heartbreaking task: to return home and finish the health clinic their father started before getting sick. Unable to raise enough money on their own, the brothers are joined by students, politicians, and a rock band – Jars of Clay who launch a fund raising drive among young people across the United States. ‘Sons of Lwala’ follows Milton and Fred on their incredible journey as they find a way, despite all odds, to open their village’s first hospital. Milton is currently pursuing his residency in St. Louis, MO and Fred is a third year med student at Vanderbilt in Tennessee. Both have been speaking all over the northeast lately to doctor’s conventions while Barry Simmons been showing the film in over a dozen venues, from universities to medical conferences to church gatherings.”

The Location: Lwala

The Lwala Community Alliance paints us a portrait of an African community struggling to keep afloat. – “In Lwala poverty, impassable roads during the rainy season, lack of electricity, unsafe drinking water and poor nutrition create an environment where poor health is rampant and access to care practically nonexistent. Malaria, diarrhea, skin diseases, respiratory diseases and tuberculosis are rampant. Women give birth in their dirt-floored huts, and complications in delivery often lead to death. Children suffer from malnutrition, which exacerbates the problems of malaria, diarrhea and skin diseases. But despite their severity, these problems pale in comparison to the problem of HIV/AIDS, which is the primary cause of death in Lwala and may infect as much as a third of the population.”

How To Take Action

After Fred and Milton completed the hospital, with the help of well wishers and friends, they realized that they needed to keep it open, and created the Lwala Community Alliance to continue funding the initial donation. You too can keep that fund going. It is already on your Christmas list – DONATE Here  – And just in case you are wondering what your donation will do:

So folks, you can watch the trailer here or the trailer below.

In other news,I got in touch with ‘Sons of Lwala’  director, Barry Simmons: “The film has raised nearly $250,000 (KSh 17.5 Million), which is partially being used to build a maternity wing in Lwala.In January, the production team is going back to Lwala in January to film an epilogue to the documentary, and also to show the villagers their film. We’ll also be going to look at how health in the village has changed since the clinic opened a year and a half ago.”

For those of you who have not yet purchased a copy of the DVD, it includes a little mini-documentary on how “Sons of Lwala” got made the trailer and a hilarious movie-let filmed in the village called “Omondi’s Crib.” Simmons adds that “If you’ve seen MTV’s “Cribs” then you’ll get a kick out of this.” The “Sons of Lwala” DVD is available and on sale for $19.99 at www.sonsoflwala.com. Orders made by Dec. 16 will arrive on doorsteps by the 24th!

Many thanks to Barry Simmons for the update! If you use Facebook, join the Sons of Lwala group to receive regular updates on where the film is being shown and how you can make a difference in this project.

(Image tpac.org/lwala)
Other images( sonsoflwala.org)

More Press :

Sons of Lwala names ABC News Persons of the Week (link here)