Urbanization: How Does It Impact Health?

Urbanization is the increase of the people migrating from the rural areas to the urban areas in a nation. The process of urbanization has both positive and negative impacts on the quality of health in a nation. For instance, it is apparent that access to health care in rural areas is a big challenge in most nations, but there are numerous health care facilities and professionals in the urban areas. This implies that it is easier for people to access health care services when they migrate to urban areas. Additionally, the health care system in the urban areas is associated with better preventive health care services, which is quite helpful in the reduction of the child mortality rate and the crude mortality rate in the population. It is also apparent that urbanization leads to the development of better resources and access to the basic needs that improve the quality of health. For instance, the urban areas are associated with access to fresh drinking water as opposed to the lack of clean drinking water in the rural areas. This eliminates the morbidity rate of some waterborne diseases.

However, the process of urbanization may lead to the congestion of the residential areas in the urban centers, which translates to the emergence of various diseases. The rapid migration may lead to the introduction of new diseases in the urban areas, and the congestion may also influence a faster spread of the illnesses. For instance, the spread of Ebola in 2014-1015 was relatively fast in the urban areas in West Africa. Urbanization also influences the authorities to invest in the development of better response mechanisms in fighting against the illnesses that frequently affect the population.