Health Impact Assessment
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Virginia Pilots a New Project for the 2009 General Assembly Session!
- Who?
- Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Minority Health and Public Health Policy (OMHPHP) in collaboration with the Health Commissioner’s Office and Secretary of Health and Human Resources
- What?
- Health Impact Assessment: OMHPHP will select two proposed bills for the 2009 General Assembly Session and evaluate their potential effects—both positive and negative—on the health of Virginia’s population. Particular attention will be given to how proposed bills may affect disadvantaged groups (i.e. age, gender, ethnic background, socio-economic status, etc).
- Where?
- Virginia
- When?
- 2009 General Assembly Session
- Why?
- To educate policy makers of the health impacts associated with policy decisions that fall outside of traditional public health arenas, such as housing, education, economic development, land use planning, etc., thereby, enhancing policy makers’ decision-making impacting Virginia’s health inequities.
Health Impact Assessment (HIA)
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.
Health Impact Review (HIR)
HIR is a process by which a legislative or budgetary proposal may be evaluated for its potential effects—both positive and negative—on the health of a population, with particular attention given to its impact on health inequities.
References
European Centre for Health Policy, WHO Regional Office for Europe. (1999) Gotherburg Consensus Paper. Health impact assessment: main concepts and suggested approach. Brussels: WHO