Health impacts of the living conditions of people residing in informal settlements in Freetown: Report on the Future Health Systems (FHS) research in Freetown

January 21, 2019Future Health Systems

The rapid pace of urbanisation in most countries in Africa makes urban environments a major determinant of population health. In Freetown, urban growth is associated with the proliferation of informal settlements/slums owing largely to the prevalent poverty, overcrowded and filthy living conditions. Therefore, health outcomes are generally worse with intermittent disease outbreaks which can sometimes spread beyond a single neighbourhood to overwhelm the entire city. But, while a number of studies have documented evidences on the urban health situation in Freetown, such studies have not sufficiently explained the specific and community-wide health risks that people in each informal settlement are faced with. The study describes the living conditions in informal settlements, and explore how these relate to the health of people living there, as told and understood by the residents themselves and as reported in routine statistics.