UN-HABITAT twenty first session of the Governing Council, 16-20 April 2007, Nairobi, Kenya: the urban penalty, the poor die young
The five illnesses that cause more than half of the deaths amongst children are pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and HIV/AIDS. Studies indicate that the prevalence of these killer diseases in urban slums is due to bad living conditions rather than income levels. For instance, municipal supplies of safe drinking water rarely penetrate slums. It is common for pit latrines to be shared by thousands of people.