A proposed theme at the heart of today’s medicine

    According to the United Nations, more people now live in cities than in rural areas for the first time in the history of humanity. This global urbanization influences the way we experience health, the environment, and society. The city offers many new public health challenges that we, as future physicians, will have to face. To address some of the many aspects of urban health, the Montréal AM 2010 theme committee will offer delegates an engaging series of workshops and keynote speeches that promises to be both educational and inspirational.

         Today, about 1 billion of the world's 3 billion city-dwellers live in slums. In most African countries, the majority of the urban population lives in slums. Some of the most serious, but often neglected health issues include access to safe water, appropriate sanitation, and prevention of the transmission of infectious diseases. Unsanitary, crowded housing promotes the spread of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, and can contribute to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS. Rapid, uncontrolled urbanization leaves residents’ fundamental needs unaddressed and deepens inequalities, which poses tremendous challenges to security.

         Rapid urbanization transforms not only the landscape, but also people’s lifestyles. Urban living changes eating habits, where people favour processed food in the face of decreased physical activity. This is contributing to the alarming rise in obesity and lifestyle-associated chronic disease. When city planning lags behind rapid urbanization, as it often does, the ensuing influx of motorized vehicles further promotes a sedentary lifestyle and causes road safety concerns and air pollution.

             Cities like Montréal must also deal with many public health issues. One of Montréal's major challenges is ensuring the health of its most vulnerable populations, such as refugees and immigrants, sex-industry workers, drug users, Aboriginal populations, homeless people, and those with mental health problems.

    While the challenges are great, Montréal is a dynamic city that has developed many original strategies to address these issues. The Montréal AM 2010 theme comittee is currently recruiting exceptional speakers and experts to engage you in a discussion about urban health and the role we will play as future physicians in the Health of our Cities!