Promoting health equity in cities through evidence-based action.

The impact of the urban setting on health and, in particular, health inequities has been widely documented. However, only a few countries have examined their inter- or intra-city health inequalities, and few do so regularly. Information that shows the gaps between cities or within the same city is a crucial requirement to trigger appropriate local actions to promote health equity. To generate relevant evidence and take appropriate actions to tackle health inequities, local authorities need a variety of tools. In order to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of health systems performance, these tools should: (1) adopt a multi-sectorial approach; (2) link evidence to actions; (3) be simple and user-friendly; and (4) be operationally feasible and sustainable. In this paper we have illustrated the use of one such tool, The World Health Organization's Urban HEART, which guides users through a process to identify health inequities, focusing on health determinants and then developing actions based on the evidence generated. In a time of increasing financial constraints, there is a pressing need to allocate scarce resources more efficiently. Tools are needed to guide policy makers in their planning process to identify best-practice interventions that promote health equity in their cities.