We spontaneously picture cities as places with lots of roads and buildings where many people live together and where economic opportunities are good. Cities are also political arenas and dynamic ecosystems. Above all, cities are about people navigating between all of the above elements. Cities are indeed complex systems and for governance of health, this presents many challenges. In this session, we adopt a systems perspective to urban health governance and zoom in on Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Villa Nueva (Guatemala), New Delhi (India), Lubumbashi (RD Congo) and Brussels.

Presentations:

• Didier Chuy Kalombola, Ecole de Santé Publique de l’Université de Lubumbashi, DRC: Strengthening stewardship of district health care services in Lumbumbashi, lessons learned from a pilot project.
• Deepika Saluja, Health expert, India: Urban governance – Mapping the implementation of urban health policies in New Delhi’s slums
• Noel Nacoulma, Ministry of Health, Burkina Faso: The quickly changing landscape of the urban district of Boulmiougou (Ouagadougou)
• Guillermo Hegel, Municipal Health Director, Villa Nueva, Guatemala City

Moderators: Upendra Bhojani, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, India (TBC) and Bruno Marchal, Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium)

Session in English