Health impact assessment (HIA) is a combination of procedures, methods, and tools used to evaluate the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project.

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INSTITUDE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
FACULITY OF PUBLIC HEALTH
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES AND
TECHNOLOGY
 Health Impact Assessment
By: - Mohammedgezali I.
march, 2019
Jimma, Ethiopia

2. Outlines
Introduction
HIA development
HI assessment steps
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3. What is a Health Impact Assessment?
is a combination of procedures, methods, tools or a process by
which a policy, program or project may be judged as to its
potential effects on the health of a population, and the
distribution of those effects within that population.
considers the social, psychological, economic, environmental,
and political determinants of health as important as specific
health issues in assessing health impacts.
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4. HIA development
 EIA legislation – 1969
 1991 and later in 90’s more and more countries includes
HIA into expertise's, New Zealand, Australia, British
Columbia in Canada, etc.
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5. Amsterdam treaty of EC
article 152
 European council resolution of June 1999 calls for
establishment of procedures to monitor the impact of
Community policies and activities on public health and
health care
 ”a high level of human health protection shall be ensured
in the definition and implementation of all Community
policies and activities”
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6. Why conduct a Health Impact Assessment?
•HIAs make for better decisions.
•HIAs promote cross-sectoral cooperation.
•HIAs promote equity.
•HIAs provide information before the fact, leaving time to
make adjustments in plans.
• HIAs can assist policy development
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7. HIAs should be conducted
before the proposed project or
policy is fully planned or
implemented, so that it can
take advantage of the
information the HIA provides.
When should you
conduct a Health
Impact Assessment?
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8. Project
Impacts
Context
Risks
Health
Challenges
Inherent Risks Underlying Needs
From F. Viliani et al (2012) “
Comprehensive HIA of
greenfield gas project in
Papua New Guinea” SPE-
157446-PP5/29/2019 8

9. Who should be involved in conducting a Health
Impact Assessment?
•HIAs should involve representatives of all stakeholders. These
include:
•Those who are directly affected by the proposed actions or
policies.
•Those who are involved in carrying out the proposed actions
or policies.
•Nonprofit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
concerned with the issues and/or the populations affected.
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10. Practical aspects of conducting an HIA
The first step is to choose people to conduct the HIA.
HIA practitioners ideally are trained and experienced, or, at the
very least, have the professional, interpersonal, and
organizational skills needed to conduct an HIA successfully.
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Conclusion
Community health and wellbeing will be the long lasting
legacy of any project
HEALTH should always be included as there are always
health and safety impacts, both positive and negative
Health inclusion is more than asking a local doctor to provide
some health indicators
It does require a multidisciplinary approach and not just a last
minute health addition
Be part of the force for change and get a health expert involved
early in the process.

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References
HIA Gateway
Society of Practitioners of Health Impact Assessment (SOPHIA
Ethical standards and procedures for research with human beings (check all quoted references)
http://www.who.int/ethics/research/en/
Wales HIA supporting Unit (2011) A guide to assessing the health and wellbeing impacts of opencast mining
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/522/OpencastguidanceFinal.pdf
Barron, T., Orenstein, M. and Tamburrini, A. L. (2010) “Health Effects Assessment Tool (HEAT): An Innovative
Guide for HIA in Resource Development Projects”
State of Alaska (2011). Technical Guidance for HIA in Alaska
http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/hia/Documents/AlaskaHIAToolkit.pdf
WHO et al (2003) Health Opportunities in Development - A Course Manual on Developing Intersectoral Decision-
making Skills in Support of Health Impact Assessment
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/hodpart1&2.pdf
Insitute National de Sante Publique, Quebec. Free online training XTH-2004 Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of
Mining Projects http://campusvirtuel.inspq.qc.ca/pages/xth-2004-health-impact-assesment-hia-mining-projects
M. Birley (2011) Health Impact Assessment – Principles and Practice. Routledge