Thesis defence by Assane Gadiaga

Title: Spatial analysis of health inequalities in Dakar, Senegal

Summary:

The spatial heterogeneity of cities makes it particularly interesting to study spatial inequalities in urban health. In fact, cities offer the best and worst environments for health and well-being. From one neighbourhood to another, positive and negative influences accumulate and unevenly distribute the risk factors that determine the well-being and health of populations. The objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyse spatial inequalities in health in Dakar. Through an approach of health geography, this thesis develops a systemic analysis that places health states in a cycle, a process of interactions between populations, their habitats and the different behaviours that create and modify living conditions. Differences in health status are the result of these interaction processes. The question of scale is of major concern when measuring and understanding these interactions, because of the risk of confounding statistical correlations with actual causality.

A typology of neighbourhoods combining census data and variables extracted from very high-resolution satellite imagery first showed the heterogeneous character of Dakar in terms of housing quality. The determinants of health are socio-economic and environmental characteristics. Among these, population density, education, sanitation, housing quality, poverty, the physiognomy of the built environment and the state of the environment explain the differences in health status to varying degrees and according to the neighbourhood. The results presented improve the knowledge of the differences in health situations in Dakar, and can essentially assist with decision-making for urban planning and public health interventions.

Assane will present the results of his PhD thesis, conducted in the Geography Department under the supervision of Catherine Linard.

Link to the French version