Paper short abstract:

India urban growth is phenomenal. In such a scenario urban health not only becomes crucial for health accessibility but also has huge importance to sketch how the urban health system works in Indian cities.

Paper long abstract:

To begin with the urban health systems in India are mainly issue based. Studies indicate that negligible attention has been given to the range (types) of health related deprivation in urban India. The non communicable diseases were primarily considered outcome of the urbanisation processes, but of late urban health statistics show that the communicable disease are also accounting for high morbidity in urban India. More so, the worrisome aspects are the ever increasing incidents of road rage, trauma injuries, and rising number of deaths in urban areas.

Objective: The paper explores thematically the disease profile of urban India, urban areas and health delivery system. On the basic premise of the urbanisation (types and classification of urban areas in India) and structure of urban health system where the urban health system transits to rural health system, the paper explores the gaps in the health delivery in urban system. The paper hypothesises that the gap which is due to lack of information and lack of understanding may have been a major cause of rise in the morbidity and mortality in urban areas.

Method: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was explored for Indian reference and also to build up the understanding of the international studies on the urban health system.

Conclusion: The paper provides some policy oriented suggestions to bring out the clarity in health service delivery in India and also presents a snapshot of policy interventions brought for better urban health care delivery in other parts of the world.