Review Article
Year: 2017 | Month: November | Volume: 7 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 296-306
Health Impact Assessment: Recent Development and Challenges
Krishan Kumar, Deepalatha R. Shetty
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.
Corresponding Author: Krishan Kumar
ABSTRACT
It is known to all that health is blending up with different aspects, therefore it has its own effects of health and non-health policies and projects. Giving priority to non-health area is much relevant for positive public health attainment. HIA is one of the effective tools in non-health area for assessing the impact on public health. It acts as a powerful weapon in terms of policy making and implementing it ethically. Developmental projects like national highway, railway project, township, nuclear power plant, thermal plant, chemical industries, mining industry, petroleum refineries, commercial projects, airports, water power projects etc. have number of direct and indirect health impact (positive as well as negative) on population. These all project are for human development, but if these projects have negative impact on public health, then the real efforts and purpose of development vanish. This review paper is an introduction to HIA, why we need it and how it works for health and development. Few definitions are used to explain HIA and its working style. The Values and principles which are followed in HIA are also a part of this review. These values and principles differentiate HIA and EIA. India is an emerging economy where so many developmental projects taking place. This paper therefore includes current situation of HIA in India. The review paper uses two case studies one of HIA as used in Konkan Railway Project and another on Delhi Development Master Plan to give more clarity on how HIA is done. These core studies show the advantage of HIA which helps for an effective project or development. Meanwhile, it also shows the impact when HIA is not adopted which leads to negative impact on project undertaken towards development.
Key words: Health Impact Assessment (HIA).