Daily Recaps
Day 1
Attendees at 2010 ICUH Opening Session
Dr. Periago then addressed the attendees, highlighting the urban health challenges facing Latin America, where 79 percent of people live in cities and urban inequities cause the poor to suffer disproportionately from an extensive range of illnesses and other health problems. Critical issues include violence, substance abuse, road safety, mental health, drinking water and sanitation, and air pollution. She spoke of the "ethical imperative to correct inequities" and suggested several steps that can be taken, including creating healthy urban environments, developing public policies, and focusing on the needs of vulnerable populations and older adults.
Adolfo Carrion, a former White House Director of Urban Affairs who now serves as Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), delivered the opening plenary on "HUD as Health and Urban Development: A National and Regional Perspective." Mr. Carrion spoke of the need to "restore the 'UD' in HUD" by not just focusing on housing, but rather taking a comprehensive "place-based approach" to urban development that looks at the quality of communities and includes the coordination of resources with other government agencies (education, transportation, economic development, etc.). He highlighted several current White House health initiatives including successful efforts to reduce lead poisoning, Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" program to combat childhood obesity, and the establishment of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. He also stressed the need for the United States to be "not an arrogant player out front, but a partner in the world community" when it comes to addressing urban health issues.
Adolfo Carrion speaks at 2010 ICUH Conference
Dr. Luis Fernando Duque of the Senate of the Republic of Colombia then spoke about using epidemiologic evidence to develop public policies on community safety and citizenship, based on experiences from a successful violence-reduction intervention in Medellin, Colombia. He described the three-part PREVIVA model of gathering information through epidemiological methods, empowering municipal authorities and communities to take action based on that information, and supporting public policies that establish concrete programs and services.
Dr. Trudy Harpham, Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University, shared five major lessons learned during her 25 years of work in the field of urban health. First, "methods matter," especially for evidence-based policy, and there is a need for qualitative and quantitative evidence that conveys stories as well as numbers. Second, when it comes to inequality and inequity, differentials are powerful, and comparative studies are needed to demonstrate disparities and inspire action. Third, multi-sectoral action requires multi-disciplinary skills-the ability to communicate to different sectors, use environmental health and mental health as cross-cutting issues, and argue the costs of inaction. Fourth, urban governance should be a priority, with a focus on capacity development. Finally, she advised the conference attendees to "play with politics," maintaining that science should be not just policy relevant but policy prescriptive.
Dr. Boufford, Dr. Harpham, and Dr. Vlahov at ICUH
Dr. Barondess is honored at ICUH 2010
During the opening ceremonies, Dr. Harpham and Dr. Jeremiah Barondess were both honored for their visionary leadership in Urban Health.
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs delivers speech at ICUH
The afternoon session began with a keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute. In his speech, "Financing Urban Sustainability," Dr. Sachs provided an update on progress toward the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000, and stressed the basic scaling up of health systems in poor countries as the most important MDG issue. His suggested strategies included offering free, government-funded primary care in low-income areas; teaching public health management in low-income settings for public health officials; and establishing the training, resources, and management necessary to implement public health interventions.
Dr. Sachs also noted that the Millennium Development Goals generally lack a focus on urban health issues. "People are thinking about some distinctive rural problems and then general health system problems, but not the distinctive urban component and needed interventions," he said. He highlighted the ways in which the populations of cities are affected in unique ways by the three widespread global problems of communicable diseases, nutrition-related diseases, and childbirth-related deaths, as well as additional urban health issues including waste management, road dangers, and the growing obesity epidemic. Dr. Sachs issued a call to action to define these unique urban challenges and convey them clearly to city leaders and health ministers so that urgent health issues in cities around the world can be properly addressed.
The opening day of the conference also featured oral and poster presentations on topics including substance abuse, crime, aging, housing and health, governments and urban health, and maternal/newborn health. For a complete list of the presentations, please visit www.icuh2010.org.
Day 1
International Conference on Urban Health Commences in New York City
The New York Academy of Medicine opened the Ninth International Conference on Urban Health on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 with remarks from Dr. David Vlahov, founding president of the International Society on Urban Health; Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, President of NYAM; Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
In his remarks before an estimated 500 conference attendees, Dr. Farley cited that more than half the world's population currently lives in cities, with that number expected to rise to 70 percent by 2030. Dr. Farley stressed the importance of addressing the unique health challenges facing this growing urban population. Following his remarks, Dr. Farley presented NYAM with a proclamation declaring October 25-29 as Urban Health Week in New York City.
Attendees at 2010 ICUH Opening Session
Dr. Periago then addressed the attendees, highlighting the urban health challenges facing Latin America, where 79 percent of people live in cities and urban inequities cause the poor to suffer disproportionately from an extensive range of illnesses and other health problems. Critical issues include violence, substance abuse, road safety, mental health, drinking water and sanitation, and air pollution. She spoke of the "ethical imperative to correct inequities" and suggested several steps that can be taken, including creating healthy urban environments, developing public policies, and focusing on the needs of vulnerable populations and older adults.
Adolfo Carrion, a former White House Director of Urban Affairs who now serves as Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), delivered the opening plenary on "HUD as Health and Urban Development: A National and Regional Perspective." Mr. Carrion spoke of the need to "restore the 'UD' in HUD" by not just focusing on housing, but rather taking a comprehensive "place-based approach" to urban development that looks at the quality of communities and includes the coordination of resources with other government agencies (education, transportation, economic development, etc.). He highlighted several current White House health initiatives including successful efforts to reduce lead poisoning, Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" program to combat childhood obesity, and the establishment of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. He also stressed the need for the United States to be "not an arrogant player out front, but a partner in the world community" when it comes to addressing urban health issues.
Adolfo Carrion speaks at 2010 ICUH Conference
Dr. Luis Fernando Duque of the Senate of the Republic of Colombia then spoke about using epidemiologic evidence to develop public policies on community safety and citizenship, based on experiences from a successful violence-reduction intervention in Medellin, Colombia. He described the three-part PREVIVA model of gathering information through epidemiological methods, empowering municipal authorities and communities to take action based on that information, and supporting public policies that establish concrete programs and services.
Dr. Trudy Harpham, Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University, shared five major lessons learned during her 25 years of work in the field of urban health. First, "methods matter," especially for evidence-based policy, and there is a need for qualitative and quantitative evidence that conveys stories as well as numbers. Second, when it comes to inequality and inequity, differentials are powerful, and comparative studies are needed to demonstrate disparities and inspire action. Third, multi-sectoral action requires multi-disciplinary skills-the ability to communicate to different sectors, use environmental health and mental health as cross-cutting issues, and argue the costs of inaction. Fourth, urban governance should be a priority, with a focus on capacity development. Finally, she advised the conference attendees to "play with politics," maintaining that science should be not just policy relevant but policy prescriptive.
Dr. Boufford, Dr. Harpham, and Dr. Vlahov at ICUH
Dr. Barondess is honored at ICUH 2010
During the opening ceremonies, Dr. Harpham and Dr. Jeremiah Barondess were both honored for their visionary leadership in Urban Health.
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs delivers speech at ICUH
The afternoon session began with a keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute. In his speech, "Financing Urban Sustainability," Dr. Sachs provided an update on progress toward the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000, and stressed the basic scaling up of health systems in poor countries as the most important MDG issue. His suggested strategies included offering free, government-funded primary care in low-income areas; teaching public health management in low-income settings for public health officials; and establishing the training, resources, and management necessary to implement public health interventions.
Dr. Sachs also noted that the Millennium Development Goals generally lack a focus on urban health issues. "People are thinking about some distinctive rural problems and then general health system problems, but not the distinctive urban component and needed interventions," he said. He highlighted the ways in which the populations of cities are affected in unique ways by the three widespread global problems of communicable diseases, nutrition-related diseases, and childbirth-related deaths, as well as additional urban health issues including waste management, road dangers, and the growing obesity epidemic. Dr. Sachs issued a call to action to define these unique urban challenges and convey them clearly to city leaders and health ministers so that urgent health issues in cities around the world can be properly addressed.
The opening day of the conference also featured oral and poster presentations on topics including substance abuse, crime, aging, housing and health, governments and urban health, and maternal/newborn health. For a complete list of the presentations, please visit www.icuh2010.org.
