Health impact assessment and inequalities.
نویسندگان
چکیده
1 University of Liverpool, Department of Public Health, Liverpool, United Kingdom. Send correspondence to: Alex Scott-Samuel, Department of Public Health, University of Liverpool, Whelan Building, Quadrangle, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3GB, United Kingdom; telephone: +44 151 794 5569; fax: +44 151 794 5588; e-mail: [email protected]. An early definition of health impact assessment (HIA) described it as “any combination of procedures or methods by which a proposed policy or program may be judged as to the effect(s) it may have on the health of a population” (1). The World Health Organization’s Gothenburg consensus paper extended the definition to cover distributional equity, stating that HIA is “a combination of procedures, methods, and tools 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 the population” (2). Health impact assessment has much in common with the longer-established environmental impact assessment(3). It is an aid to decision-making that draws on a scientific knowledge base and not a scientific method in itself. Health impact assessments are specific to the context of the policy or project being assessed. Although methods of HIA still need to be further developed, its potential use as a tool for promoting sustainable development has been recognized (2). Current thinking also suggests that it should include a commitment to the ethical use of evidence (2) and that it should be based on a number of key principles (4):
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health
دوره 11 5-6 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2002