Assessing health impacts in complex eco-epidemiological settings in the humid tropics: Advancing tools and methods

Journal Article · Fri Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Environmental Impact Assessment Review

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2009.05.005· OSTI ID:21364700

Utzinger, Juerg ^[1]

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1. Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, CH-4002 Basel (Switzerland)

In the developing world, large-scale projects in the extractive industry and natural resources sectors are often controversial and associated with long-term adverse health consequences to local communities. In many industrialised countries, health impact assessment (HIA) has been institutionalized for the mitigation of anticipated negative health effects while enhancing the benefits of projects, programmes and policies. However, in developing country settings, relatively few HIAs have been performed. Hence, more HIAs with a focus on low- and middle-income countries are needed to advance and refine tools and methods for impact assessment and subsequent mitigation measures. We present a promising HIA approach, developed within the frame of a large gold-mining project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The articulation of environmental health areas, the spatial delineation of potentially affected communities and the use of a diversity of sources to obtain quality baseline health data are utilized for risk profiling. We demonstrate how these tools and data are fed into a risk analysis matrix, which facilitates ranking of potential health impacts for subsequent prioritization of mitigation strategies. The outcomes encapsulate a multitude of environmental and health determinants in a systematic manner, and will assist decision-makers in the development of mitigation measures that minimize potential adverse health effects and enhance positive ones.

• OSTI ID: 21364700
• Journal Information: Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Journal Name: Environmental Impact Assessment Review Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 30; ISSN 0195-9255; ISSN EIARDK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AFRICA
COMMUNITIES
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
GOLD
HAZARDS
INCOME
INDUSTRY
METALS
MINING
MITIGATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
TRANSITION ELEMENTS