An Overview on Urban-HEART Tehran Experience

Employing a recently developed tool to assess the gaps in health status of the urban population and its determinants, named Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) developed by the WHO Centre for Health Development located in Kobe, Japan (WKC), may provide a contemporary example for inequality reduction efforts in urban areas.

Urban HEART helps countries and districts to systemically generate evidence to assess and respond to unfair health conditions and inequity in urban settings. It will also stimulate city-to-city learning and sharing experiences among the countries and across regions.

An improved model in Tehran incorporates six domains of infrastructure, social and humanity development, economics, governance, health and nutrition. Most of these indicators are being monitored for the first time, specifically in an urban area, as part of a large population-based survey which also includes measures of mental health, social capital, quality of life, smoking, violence, disabilities, Fair Financial Contribution Index, calorie deprivation, transparency, citizen satisfaction, and social contribution.