HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT IN URBAN AREAS OF DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

International agencies governments and non-governmental organisations are paying increasing attention to the urban environment in developing countries and its potential ill-effects on health. In order to generate more information on this relationship, household level studies which measure both environment and health are proliferating. This paper provides methodological guidelines and caveats for such studies and considers confounding factors; the selection of appropriate health indicators (mortality and morbidity) and the measurement of selected health indicators. it concludes by cautioning against examining physical environment and health factors without considering socio-economic factors