Health Impact Assessments: A Cornerstone in the Environmental Sustainability of Populations
Author: Alokwem Vianney
The broadness of most environmental concerns serve as a pointer to the limitlessness of environmental impacts. In every action, whether positive or negative, there is a correlating environmental impact, which can be negligibly minute, or hugely felt such that it leads to the evacuation of a community. At the end of the day, whichever form of positive or negative impact we get is as a result of our decisions as individuals or as a group, and also, where, when and how we implement those decisions.
Our environment — From the air we breathe to the seismic vibrations of the earth and its crust and all the way down to the unexplored parts of Challenger Deep;
Our decisions — ranging from our choice as individuals to or not to litter, to the decisions reached by policymakers, corporate bodies, industrial big names and community stakeholders for the sake of every other person
…directly or indirectly make their marks on the health all living things, which might not be immediately pointed out on mere superficial assessments. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a tool stands to help in informing decision and policy makers in the society, of the environmental consequences that might arise or which have risen from the implementation of various projects. EIAs in their broadness extend from the assessment of physical environments to the evaluation of health, social and cultural impacts that might arise during or after the implementation of desired projects. Considering the fact that the health status of any individual, at any given time, can be greatly determined by their environment; it becomes crucial that a lot more focus is directed at health assessments as an independent factor.
The fight for environmental sustainability is also a fight for improved global health.
Hence, there’s a need for a more tactical means of assessing the health consequences of policies and project implementations. This need birthed the concept of Health Impact Assessments (HIA), which is primarily focused on the health impacts of policies and decisions reached in the confines of political, social, industrial, corporate or communal enclosures.
In the mind of any environmentalist yearning for environmental improvements and sustainable development, one of the pictures painted by the imagination is a future with better health quality, lower mortality rates and higher life expectancy than we have today. We hope for a cleaner environment, and in the lines of achieving that, the health status of individuals is invariably enriched.
Working For the Environment with HIA As An Invaluable Tool
There are various definitions of HIA as formulated by various individuals, researchers and organizations, but according to WHO, a definition goes thus:
“Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a means of assessing the health impacts of policies, plans and projects in diverse economic sectors using quantitative, qualitative and participatory techniques.”
Furthermore, the concepts of Green Economy highlight environmental, economic and social factors as the three pillars of sustainability. HIAs have provided health indicators of sustainable development that significantly point out the progress and barriers associated with the implementation of projects in any of these pillars.
HIA, as a tool under EIA, aims to examine potentials for diseases, unhealthy lifestyle, the risk of injuries, air pollution, etc., to increase or decrease due to the enactment of a policy, and their possible effects on the quality of life and life expectancy of a population. Planned and carried out efficiently, HIA offers a well-researched knowledge that guides the decision of policy makers and project managers, and as well recommend solutions that boost sustainable development.
In practice, HIA adopts an inclusive approach, both in the consideration of, not just specific, but all possible health outcomes of a proposal implementation, and in creating a participatory medium for both the decision makers and the populace. To be successful, a Health Impact Assessment scheme considers a population’s lifestyle, occupational situation and environmental exposures that might arise from the implementation of a proposal, as well as the factors determining the presence of these determinants.
Six stages are involved in a comprehensive HIA. Thus:
Screening
A preliminary process to ascertain if there is a need for HIA for the proposals in view. Proposals that pose a negligible impact on health, or those of which an assessment will do little to affect the decision-making process are screened out. While the selected proposals get their assessments based on the results of the screening.
Scoping
This stage brings to light the extent to which the HIA will need to be carried out, considering the aims, objectives, timeframe, locality, political conditions, demography, health determinants in the population, applicable HIA processes, resources, labor, level of inclusion, background information, etc.
Scoping establishes the span of the assessment in all relevant angles.
Risk assessment
At this stage, the impacts of the proposal are identified, whether they are positive or negative, potential or actual. Risk assessment involves community profiling at different levels, to understand the population; the general health status of the population and those whose health are most likely to be affected by the implementation of a proposal.
Report preparations and formulation of recommendations
This stage involves the preparation of reports and brainstorming to formulate appropriate recommendations that benefit both the decision makers and the affected population. Recommendations are developed bearing in mind that health factors might be the least concern of the decision makers who are most likely concerned with the economic and political outcomes of their proposals. Hence, the results of HIAs are not overbearing, but seek to establish a common ground that makes the involved parties satisfied without unnecessarily favoring the other.
Recommendations and report submission
With the completion of report preparations and recommendation drafts, the results are handed over to the decision makers for possible reviews and amendments, and acceptance.
Monitoring and evaluation
This is the final stage, and it involves the monitoring and evaluation of the HIA model in use, monitoring, and evaluation of post-submission processes and, monitoring and evaluation of the proposal’s implementation processes to ensure that the processes agreed by the parties involved, are accurately followed.
Each stage of a successful HIA program is a step towards achieving sustainable development following the tenets of Green Economy to reduce environmental risks and minimize the chances of ecological scarcities; while significantly improving and safeguarding the health of a population, as well as the socioeconomic values of the population. It is a tool that steps up the efficiency of an environmental process, and improves the effectiveness of the associated results significantly.
Simply put, it will be a lot hard to disprove the interconnection between public health and the environment, hence, the need to apply HIA as a tool for sustainable development cannot be overemphasized.
📝 Read this story later in Journal.
🌎 Wake up every Sunday morning to the week’s most noteworthy stories in Society waiting in your inbox. Read the Noteworthy in Society newsletter.
