With urbanisation, cities are increasingly home to greater proportions of the world's population. As this transition has significant implications on human health, the epidemiology of diseases among relatively stable urban populations is growing. As humanitarian crises increasingly drive people to urban centers rather than traditional refugee camps, however, rapid and massive urban displacements will increase in frequency. This paper explores the idea that such urban displacements combine epidemiological features of forced migration, slum conditions and humanitarian disaster contexts. This paper highlights the lack of primary data and the consequent paucity of solid epidemiological literature in the aftermath of rapid massive urban displacements. A framework of health outcomes in urban displacement drawing from the above 3 phenomenon is presented and avenues for improved epidemiologic work described.
Keywords: displacement; epidemiology; public health; slum; urban crises.