Mental ill health forms an increasingly significant part of the burden of disease in developing countries. The growing interest in social risk factors for mental health coincides with the development of social capital research which may further inform the social model of mental health. The...

Urban growth has been accompanied by the development of bimodal labour markets and increasing inequalities in both North and South. In Southern cities, many of the poor have turned to the informal sector, in particular to street trade. This has resulted in a multiplicity of urban conflicts and...

The poverty and dramatic alteration in geographical composition of African cities have been associated with rapid urbanisation, the growth of the informal economy and migration. The latter has separated individuals from long-established social and kinship networks, and from familiar livelihood...

Social capital is a relatively new concept which has attracted significant attention in recent years. No consensus has yet been reached on how to measure social capital, resulting in a large number of different tools available. While psychometric validation methods such as factor analysis have...

There have been calls recently for a major international effort to collect epidemiological information in developing countries. One approach to a World Health Survey is considered, namely single-round retrospective interview surveys. Surveys can contribute to the improvement of national health...

Women and the poor are disproportionately affected by common mental disorders (CMD), and women in low income countries are particularly at risk. Social capital may explain some of the geographical variation in CMD, but the association between social capital and CMD in low income countries has...

The urban development, or housing, sector has a longer experience of addressing the problems of the urban poor in developing countries than the health sector. In recent years the policy of 'slum improvement', which involves both sectors, has attracted the support of international donors. This...

In 2005, in recognition of the role of social factors in increasing health inequities, the World Health Organisation established the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. South Africa is among the most unequal societies in the world. It faces serious public health challenges,...