by Prince Agwu, Chinyere Mbachu and Obinna Onwujekwe, Health Policy Research Group, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Background Nigeria’s urban population growth rate is currently estimated at 4.1%, and the urban population is expected to double by over 200m by 2050. A burgeoning urban population could be regarded as both advantageous and disadvantageous, considering the increase…

by Samina Huque, ARK Foundation A webinar was arranged on ‘Gender and Intersectionality Planning” on 10th January 2022.  The objective of the webinar was to provide guidance on using the gender and intersectionality framework (CHORUS’ Gender and Intersectionality Guide) to reflect on the data collection and to further shape the health systems intervention to be…

What is safeguarding? UKCDR defines safeguarding in research as “preventing and addressing any sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment of research participants, communities and research staff, plus any broader forms of violence, exploitation and abuse… such as bullying, psychological abuse and physical violence”. (UKCDR, February 2020) On a practical level, safeguarding means taking all reasonable steps…

By Tahmid Hasan, ARK Foundation   In Bangladesh, NCDs are estimated to account for 67% of all deaths. In low and middle-income countries, urbanization has been identified as one of the crucial underlying reasons for the increasing trends of NCDs. Bangladesh has also been experiencing rapid urbanization for the past two decades. The urban population…

CHORUS CEO Irene Agyepong presented the theoretical concepts of understanding health systems as Complex Adaptive Systems, and discussed how to apply the theory when co-designing and evaluating health systems interventions. This was followed by discussions within CHORUS country teams on application within their intervention co-design, giving thought to the intended and unintended implications. Watch the…

Urban health concerns and non-communicable diseases in Nepal by Anchal Thapa, HERD International The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD) has grown rapidly in Nepal, and contributes to  two-thirds (66 %) of the total deaths that occur in the country. The majority of the NCD related deaths are attributable to the four major non communicable disease…

Role of the private sector in COVID-19 response in urban areas: Lessons from Ghana, Nepal, Nigeria and Bangladesh. by Helen Elsey The 17th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) was held on 6-8 July 2021. A key theme of the conference was urban governance and public health systems in the time of COVID-19. CHORUS –…

Urban Health Systems: A neglected frontline of 21st Century epidemics and pandemics. Irene A Agyepong, Mahua Das, Helen Elsey, Tim Ensor  Cities have been the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic and as the world still struggles to emerge from Covid-19, scientists predict that more epidemics and pandemics lie ahead. Yet are the current urban health…

Come and join the CHORUS team as we review and discuss the role of the private sector and city governments during the pandemic in Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria, at the 17th International Conference on Urban Health. CHORUS colleagues will present analysis on the spectrum of providers and their role in the response to COVID-19,…

CHORUS colleagues Dr Helen Elsey (Research Director), Professor Irene Agyepong (CEO) and Professor Obinna Onwujekwe, (CHORUS Nigeria Lead) join the Urbanisation and Health Network’s latest webinar and globally renowned urban health systems experts to discuss lessons learned and potential models to bring together health providers from the private, NGO and informal sectors to improve urban…