Housing and health
Unsafe, low-quality, overcrowded housing drives health inequities by creating the conditions that expose people to violence and injuries and promote ill-health from infectious and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Energy inefficient housing and inadequate incomes create energy poverty – especially for older people with disabilities, young children, and families who spend more time at home. Cold indoor temperatures can affect physical and mental health, especially for older people, and impair children’s learning. Extreme indoor hea t can lead to heat exhaustion, stroke, and heart disease. Poor housing also exposes people to toxic materials, indoor air pollution low-quality housing design and maintenance hazards, such as falls. COVID-19, housing, and health: COVID-19 has increased people’s exposure to the health risks of poor housing through the global “stay at home” response. Around one billion people live in urban slums and a...