Impacts of urbanization on social determinants of health (SDOH)
Urbanization effects SDOH in many of the same fashions as rural living. Transportation, access to care and housing can still be just as inaccessible for urban living if proper care was not taken in transportation logistics or housing availability. Although well developed now, Japan has struggled in the past with rapid urbanization expansion. The developing country of Egypt can take a lesson from the issues Japan faced in the early phases of urbanization.
Housing and transportation are two determinants in need of restructure for Egypt’s current urbanization model. Japan learned early on that speed over quality was not the ideal choice when setting up an urban city. Buildings that were too hastily put together became more of a burden for the city in repair costs and buildings that erupted without thought of logistics created crowding and unsafe transportation routes for pedestrians (Hein et al, 2007).
Urbanization has the potential to create positive change for SDOH. Urban cities can allow individuals easier access to healthcare facilities, increased economic growth and prosperity and more efficient infrastructures (Social determinants of health, 2021). For these positive changes to happen it is important for leaders to understand the proper foundations that must be created to protect and support the flocking population that urban cities inspire.
Globalization:
Labonte and Shrecker (2022) identify globalization as, “a process of greater integration within the world economy through movements of goods and services, capital, technology and (to a lesser extent) labour, which lead increasingly to economic decisions being influenced by global conditions” (Labonte and Shrecker, 2022, pg. 3).
EGYPT
Egypt has a large tourist population that positively effects the more popular locations with their healthcare system. The more visited the places are the better healthcare and more accessibility there is. This leaves the lower income population with less healthcare and more vulnerable to disease and infection. Khalifa and Haley (2010) states, “Improving standards of care within Egypt’s private health sector, relatively lower health care costs, and an already popular tourism destination have positively positioned Egypt for medical tourism; particularly in such destinations as the Red Sea, Cairo, Alexandria, and Giza” (Khalifa & Haley, 2010, pg. 3). Having the tourist population allows for extra income to help fund education and increase research for many of the highly infectious diseases that are plaquing Egypt. The con to this funding is that it is going to the areas where people already have access to medical treatment instead of trying to fund the lower income communities. There could be future policies that decrease the availability for private practice physicians to access government funded resources. (Khalifa & Haley, 2010).
Environmental Issues
Egypt
· The environment in this developing country has significant issues that threaten the land. There is an abundance of hazardous waste, high levels of air pollution, and rising cases of water scarcity (Asiri, Khan, & Kend, 2020). Egypt is also suffering from deteriorating resources and a lack of governmental legislation regarding the use of resources and protecting the environment. It is important to mention that Egypt is located along the Nile River and can be described as a patch of green that sits in between the desert. More than 50% of its food is imported due to an abundance of people living on a small piece of land that has a limited amount of land available for agriculture (Sarant, 2017). It is also no surprise that living in the middle of a desert results in decreased water supply as Egypt is below the level of water scarcity with only 600m3 – 340m3 available per person. Additionally, Egypt has been battling an increase in dust storms that has caused increasing health issues and hospitalizations in the population (Akpinar-Elci, Berumen-Flucker, Bayram, & Taiar, 2021). The increase in hazardous waste is the result of a combination of poor regulation and the increase in industrialization as private coporations have been purchasing most of the available land.