Urban Health Resource Centre (UHRC)

UHRC draws on a variety of strategies to address health issues in India, which are detailed on the UHRC website. Broadly, the organisation engages in the following:

• Development of urban health programmes in cities of different states which are designed to be adaptable by the government and non-government agencies - Partnership is an approach that informs many of these projects. In Indore, the largest city of Madhya Pradesh, UHRC launched activities in 75 slums through collaboration with a consortium of 5 non-governmental organisations (NGOs)/community-based organisations (CBOs). To begin, research was a strategy: a situation analysis of the city was conducted, with the objective of understanding issues such as health conditions, available services and opportunities for the slum dwellers, and options for developing a partnership-based programme for improving the health of the underserved urban dwellers. Knowledge of local stakeholders was utilised to identify all slums beyond officially listed slums. Consultations with various stakeholders (including community representatives) were said to have brought out the capacities and motivation of NGOs and CBOs to work on health improvement in vulnerable areas. The resulting partnership model aims at demand generation by building social infrastructure and linking slum communities with public and private maternal and child health (MCH) services. The NGO-CBO model has a 3-tier structure through which 5 participating organisations coordinate directly with Health Department and private/charitable institutions to organise at least 50 MCH outreach camps each month. UHRC indicates that there has been improvement in timely immunisation coverage, increased trained attendance in home deliveries, and better infant feeding behaviours.
• Strengthening of urban health programming approaches and capacity of government and non-government partners
• Increasing the availability of health information and programme experiences specific to the urban economically poor among various stakeholders through research, documentation, and dissemination - UHRC draws on face-to-face events, such as a panel discussion and poster session on urban health held in New Delhi in March 2007, with over 120 professionals in attendance. Among the topics were how the private sector's role can be encouraged and enhanced for improving access to health services for the urban economically poor, as well as how policies and programmes related to urban health can be implemented more effectively and quickly. In addition, the UHRC website includes a variety of resources, such as articles, reports, presentations, a library, an expert's database, and "useful links". The Urban Health Gateway is an electronic bibliographic database of articles and reports on urban health issues that is designed to be a one-stop resource for urban health researchers, planners, and policymakers.
• Advocating for i) enhanced attention to health, targeted policies, and increased allocation of resources for urban slum dwellers, and ii) involvement of slum communities and building their capacity for effective health care delivery - UHRC's advocacy efforts aim to bridge the gap arising from lack of sharing of knowledge and experiences across agencies and technical areas. Such efforts are thought to be critical for strengthening collaboration among health, social, urban infrastructure development, housing, and social sectors in order to stimulate the creation of better policies and programmes for the urban economically poor. For instance, UHRC spurred a national collaborative consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in an effort to raise understanding about slum health issues and experiences, as well as to bring about a receptivity to planning for urban health programmes by the state governments. UHRC also collaborates with various scientific/professional societies and NGOs at various levels. To cite an additional example, UHRC supported the Urban Health Symposium on "Strengthening Partnership for Health of the Urban Poor" at the 49th All India Annual Conference of Indian Public Health Association in February 2005 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

In addition to partnership, capacity building, research, information dissemination, and advocacy, UHRC draws on its annual nationwide essay contest to generate ideas about, and engagement in, urban health issues. For instance, as announced on the UHRC website, the theme of the 2007 (4th annual) contest was "how to effectively partner with the private sector for improving the health status of the urban poor?". Essays addressing the challenges and possible options for effectively addressing these issues and proposing feasible models in the context of urban slums were invited from young public health professionals (below 35 years of age).

Health.