Baryomunsi to launch healthy cities: Study 

PIC: Minister Baryomunsi will preside over a function to launch a consensus study report at Hotel Africana on Monday, August 6

URBAN HEALTH

Rapid urbanisation will radically change the public and private infrastructure, health systems, and culture over the coming decades, according to the Uganda National Academy of Sciences.

All of these have profound implications for the current and future health of Ethiopians, Kenyans, Tanzanians, Ugandans, and all other eastern Africans.

Consequently, Chris Baryomunsi, the minister of state for housing, will on Monday at Hotel Africana preside over a function to launch a consensus study report, entitled: "Owning Our Urban Future: Enabling Healthy Cities in Eastern Africa."

According to the press release from the Uganda National Academy of Sciences, the report takes a novel approach to urban health by emphasising the importance of considering spiritual health in rapidly urbanising areas. The report also calls forcefully for cross-sectoral working groups and for greater community involvement in the process of urban development.

Human beings are in the midst of profound changes to their ecology, and the eastern African region is at the forefront of this change. To address these pressing challenges, the Science Academies of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, the Young Academies of Ethiopia and Uganda, and the African Centre for Health and Social Transformation embarked on an 8-month consensus study process to address the key challenges and opportunities to enable the development of healthy cities in the eastern African region.