The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022 published a report titled “Setting global research priorities for urban health” outlining the Urban Health Research Agenda (UHRA), which is a set of global research priorities for 2022-2032. The UHRA was formulated in response to the global rise of population. It is estimated that by 2050 more than two thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, posing significant health challenges and opportunities. This agenda comprises key focuses areas of WHO – climate change, environmental health, housing, healthy diets, physical activities, and road safety to assists governments, local communities, and actors achieve their health, equity, and sustainability targets. The UHRA pinpoints four key global research priorities: a) strengthening the link between research findings and actions to promote urban health, b) building city level evidence on between policy, environmental, economic and social factors in urban environments and health outcomes, generating insights on under research thematic areas and urban population subgroups.
GlohMed investigator Dr. Suraj Bhattarai contributed to this report in the capacity of ‘South-east Asia regional coordinator’ of Urban health landscaping project implemented by the International Society of Urban Health (ISUH). Dr. Bhattarai also serves as a member of the ISUH Expert Advisory Council (EAC).
Reference: World Health Organization; 2022. Geneva. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Setting global research priorities for urban health (who.int)