Urban Health in India

Abstract

As India becomes ever more urbanised, urban health issues are becoming new impediments for future development. Yet, the topic has received only scant attention in research and politics. This contribution discusses determinants and outcomes of urbanisation on health and the effects of health on urbanisation. First, it provides a framework for the analysis of health in the urban context. After a brief description of the Indian urbanisation process, the paper analyses - on the basis of secondary data - the connections between (1) health and socio-economic structures, (2) health and environment and (3) health and the health care system. The finding show that urban India suffers from a double burden of disease and growing health disparities. In the conclusion, policy implications are described and areas for future research are defined.