Data and Policy Briefs
Lessons from Latin American Cities
This page serves as an archive for data and policy briefs from SALURBAL 2017-2023, and is no longer being updated regularly.
Policy-relevant urban health research generates knowledge that policy- and decision-makers can use to improve health and reduce health inequities. Through its Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project, The Urban Health Network for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC-Urban Health) promotes urban health research and the translation of scientific evidence into real-world solutions.
SALURBAL produces policy and research briefs for policymakers, researchers, and members of civil society and the private sector working to improve health in Latin America's cities.
Making the Invisible, Visible: Race, Racism and Health Data
The demand for information about Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations and their living conditions—driven in large part by social movements—has been a growing and recurring issue in Latin America. Though the region still has limitations in the availability of reliable data, important efforts have taken place to advance this agenda. This brief outlines lessons learned from Latin American countries. To advance research and action on racial/ethnic health inequities in Latin American countries, local, state, and national decision-makers must improve the collection of high-quality data on race and ethnicity and make it available to researchers and all society. (January 2023)
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Climate Change and Urban Health
Urban areas across Latin America face increasing health impacts from climate change. This brief describes what we know about the current and future impacts of climate change on health and health equity, what some cities in Latin America are doing to maximize the co-benefits of climate action, and what urban policymakers and public health researchers can do to support effective urban policies and interventions. (April 2022)
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Public Transportation and Active Transportation During the Pandemic
El transporte público colectivo y el transporte activo en tiempos de pandemia outlines key recommendations for adapting and supporting public mass transit and active transportation systems to promote safe, healthy, and equitable mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first brief in SALURBAL’s new mini-series, COVID-19 and Urban Health in Latin America. (November 2020)
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Knowledge to Policy Translation for Urban Health
How can urban health research drive the development of evidence-based policies? Knowledge to Policy Translation for Urban Health: Lessons from Latin American Cities explores how knowledge about the links between urban environments and health can inform action to promote urban health and health equity and contribute to environmental sustainability.The document reviews challenges and opportunities related to knowledge to policy translation for urban health in Latin America and presents concrete actions for improving how the research community engages with policymakers and other actors. (February 2020)
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Health in All Urban Policies
Health in All Urban Policies: Lessons from Latin American Cities outlines the core principles of a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach to understanding how urban environments affect health, and how urban policies and interventions across sectors can impact the health of people living in cities. This policy brief was co-produced by the SALURBAL project in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and describes initiatives by each organization to advance HiAP implementation. The 12-page booklet provides an introduction to key concepts related to HiAP, research and evidence to support this approach, and recommendations for policymakers and for the academic community for leveraging action across sectors to promote health, equity, and environmental sustainability. (October 2019)
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Planning Health Evaluations of Housing and Neighborhood Interventions
Planning Health Evaluations of Housing and Neighborhood Interventions: Lessons from Latin America discusses opportunities to integrate health evaluations into the design and implementation of urban policies. Housing and neighborhood interventions can be important interventions that deliver packaged benefits to improve urban health and well-being, but more evidence is needed regarding their effects under different conditions and the pathways underlying these effects to inform policy changes. The policy brief details potential health effects and evaluation designs, recommendations for intersectoral planning, and shares three case studies of current evaluations from the SALURBAL project. (May 2019)
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Food and Urban Health
Food and Urban Health: Lessons from Latin America presents leading challenges in urban nutrition in the context of demographic changes, poverty, and markets and regulations. The policy brief describes mechanisms that can be implemented to affect food-related behaviors and consumption, and highlights innovative policies, laws, and programs from the region. Recommendations build upon best regional practices and suggest integrated and intersectoral responses. (May 2018)
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Sustainable Transport and Urban Health
Sustainable Transport and Urban Health: Lessons from Latin America explores strategies and interventions from throughout the region that support active transport and mobility in cities. The policy brief gives an overview of the key areas of transportation policies, regional trends, case studies of policies in major cities, and discusses the contributions of Latin America to global efforts in urban policies and health. (November 2017)
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DATA BRIEFS
Learn more about SALURBAL’s data and analyses by reading the data briefs below.
COVID-19 and Urban Health in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is one of the world regions hardest hit by the pandemic. This brief the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic using data compiled by the Salud Urbana en América Latina ("Urban Health in Latin America") project (SALURBAL). The brief includes information on the number of cases, deaths, and vaccinations reported, as well as socioeconomic inequities in these outcomes in Latin American cities. Policy approaches and actions that some cities and countries have implemented to improve data quality and reduce inequities are highlighted.(June 2021)
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Infant Mortality in Latin American Cities
Infant mortality reveals the level of social development of a community, as it indicates whether that community has access to adequate healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, and social protections. This data brief describes how the Salud Urbana en América Latina ("Urban Health in Latin America") project (SALURBAL) was using data to describe patterns of infant mortality across Latin American cities and understand what characteristics of urban environments may be contributing to inequities in infant mortality. (July 2020)
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Data in the SALURBAL Project
Data in the SALURBAL Project provides an overview of the process of selecting cities, compiling data, and the types of questions the dataset may help to answer. The document was developed to inform future SALURBAL studies and to receive feedback from stakeholder working in urban health in the region regarding how SALURBAL research can support their efforts.(November 2018)
Further information about SALURBAL's data domains, variables, and methodological approach is available in Building a Data Platform for Cross-Country Urban Health Studies: the SALURBAL Study, published in the Journal of Urban Health (Quistberg et al., 2018)
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Mortality and Life Expectancy in Latin American Cities
Life expectancy and causes of death vary greatly across urban areas in Latin America, and global and regional summaries of life expectancy and causes of death can hide significant variability across cities. Urban environments that differ across neighborhoods, cities, and countries can have a major impact on life expectancy and causes of death. Mortality and Life Expectancy in Latin American Cities presents the experiences of the SALURBAL project in harmonizing and describing mortality data across 366 cities in 10 countries. (September 2019)
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