Research Mentor, Community-led Responsive and Effective Health Systems Project (CHORUS) Project

CHORUS is a Research Programme Consortium that brings together health researchers from Africa, South Asia and the UK. CHORUS works with communities, health professionals and city level decision makers to develop and test ways to improve the health of the poorest urban residents.

As rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation continues across low- and middle-income countries, health systems are struggling to keep up, and the needs of poor urban communities are often not met. This is especially true for those experiencing exclusion due to intersections with gender, caste, ethnicity, religion and disability. Many of the challenges to good health among urban residents are created by the wider urban environment such as inadequate water and sanitation provision, air pollution, urban design that favours vehicles and the influential role of commercial organisations and easy access to unhealthy diets, tobacco and substance abuse.

The Response: resilience in urban health systems. Our demand-led approach works with poor communities to understand their health needs and design and evaluate interventions that will drive the improvement of the urban health system. We work closely with urban policymakers and providers to ensure that the interventions we co-design are consistent with policy objectives and are feasible and sustainable.