Publications by authors named "W Caiaffa"
[Neighborhood characteristics in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil: an intraurban analysis using systematic social observation method].
Cad Saude Publica
January 2025
Systematic social observation (SSO) is an objective method of measuring the neighborhood physical and social characteristics. This study aimed to build intraurban indicators using the SSO method and compare them between two slums and their surroundings in a Brazilian capital. The simple indicators were calculated using the ratio estimator method, and grouped into domains.
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- The SALURBAL study, initiated in 2017, aims to examine urban health determinants and effective policies across cities in Latin America, filling a research gap on health in lower and middle income countries.
- It has four main objectives: analyzing social and physical factors impacting health, assessing the effects of urban policies, employing systems approaches for deeper understanding, and fostering discussions on health drivers and policy implications.
- This review updates on SALURBAL's data resource, collaborative methods, challenges encountered, and highlights opportunities for enhancing policy-relevant research in urban health moving forward.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has spread through pre-existing fault lines in societies, deepening structural barriers faced by precarious workers, low-income populations, and racialized communities in lower income sub-city units. Many studies have quantified the magnitude of inequalities in COVID-19 distribution within cities, but few have taken an international comparative approach to draw inferences on the ways urban epidemics are shaped by social determinants of health.
Methods: Guided by critical epidemiology, this study quantifies sub-city unit-level COVID-19 inequalities across eight of the largest metropolitan areas of Latin America and Canada.
Article Synopsis
- - Heatwaves in Latin America are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense by mid-century, with even greater increases under the high emissions scenario (RCP8.5) compared to the low emissions scenario (RCP2.6).
- - The frequency of heatwaves may double across most of Latin America, leading to a significant increase in population exposure to extreme heat, projected to rise by three to ten times in Central and South America.
- - Following a low emissions pathway (RCP2.6) could significantly reduce heatwave exposure—by 57% in Central America and 50% in South America—emphasizing the need for emissions control and sustainable practices to mitigate climate change impacts. *