TY - JOUR
T1 - Integration of health and environment through health impact assessment
T2 - Cases from three continents
AU - Negev, Maya
AU - Levine, Hagai
AU - Davidovitch, Nadav
AU - Bhatia, Rajiv
AU - Mindell, Jennifer
N1 - Funding Information:
The First author would like to thank the Environment and Health Fund for the doctoral fellowship during which this paper was written. The authors would like to thank Erica Ison for her valuable comments.
Funding Information:
Funding: The first author's PhD scholarship is funded by the Environment and Health Fund, Israel.
PY - 2012/4/1
Y1 - 2012/4/1
N2 - Despite the strong linkage between environment and health, institutions responsible for these fields operate in largely fragmented ways with limited interaction. As illustrated in the recent engagement between health and urban planning institutions, inter-institutional cooperation could support more effective and politically acceptable solutions for both local and global problems. Analysis of three case-studies, from three different continents, shows that HIA might serve to promote synergies among health and environmental disciplines in different local contexts, and could lead to institutional and procedural changes that promote health. Case examples provided supportive evidence for these effects, despite differences in approaches to HIA and governance levels. Obstacles to the use of HIA for inter-institutional integration also differed between countries. Lessons learned could support cooperation in other common interests of health and environment disciplines such as research, training and preparedness, and mitigation of public health emergencies related to the environment.
AB - Despite the strong linkage between environment and health, institutions responsible for these fields operate in largely fragmented ways with limited interaction. As illustrated in the recent engagement between health and urban planning institutions, inter-institutional cooperation could support more effective and politically acceptable solutions for both local and global problems. Analysis of three case-studies, from three different continents, shows that HIA might serve to promote synergies among health and environmental disciplines in different local contexts, and could lead to institutional and procedural changes that promote health. Case examples provided supportive evidence for these effects, despite differences in approaches to HIA and governance levels. Obstacles to the use of HIA for inter-institutional integration also differed between countries. Lessons learned could support cooperation in other common interests of health and environment disciplines such as research, training and preparedness, and mitigation of public health emergencies related to the environment.
KW - Decision making
KW - Environmental health
KW - Health impact assessment (HIA)
KW - Policy making
KW - Risk assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859008384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2012.02.003
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2012.02.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84859008384
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 114
SP - 60
EP - 67
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
ER -
