Today is World Health Day and the World Health Organization said that continued population growth in cities in the Western Pacific will have damaging consequences for human health, particularly for the poor, unless urgent steps are taken to find, act upon and sustain solutions to decrease health risks for people who live in cities.

WHO Regional Director Dr Shin Youngsoo said many cities in the Western Pacific have grown too fast and too randomly, and as millions of people already live in urban slums or near slums where disease is a serious threat, health risks will also rise if insufficient attention is paid to planning and implementation of healthy urban practices and infrastructure.

Dr Youngsoo said innovative and effective solutions that mitigate health risks of people living in cities must be found, acted upon and sustained over time.

He added the health sector cannot act alone, as many of the factors at play are controlled by other sectors.

This is why it is time for all sectors to work together with civil society, community groups, engineers, and businesses to ensure that growing cities are healthy cities and to deal with the problems afflicting many of the urban poor.