Development of health impact assessment in the Netherlands

Lea den Broeder, Brigit Staatsen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterProfessional

Abstract

This chapter discusses the development of health impact assessment (HIA) in The Netherlands. HIA in The Netherlands began in the early 1990s and developed along two different lines: one shaped by the public health approach and the other stemming from the environmental field. Public health-based HIA evolved according to the paradigm presented by the Lalonde model of health. The HIAs mainly concerned national policies and addressed a variety of policy fields, ranging from tobacco discouragement and health insurance policy to national housing policy and the high-speed rail link. The environmental-based HIA focused on preventing environmentally related health risks and did not consider health in a broader sense. There is no legal obligation for environmental impact assessments to consider health impacts outside an environmental scope. If a first screening of the planned activity points to large health impacts or many concerns about potential health effects, a more detailed quantitative health impact assessment should be carried out.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHealth impact assessment
Subtitle of host publicationpast achievement, current understanding, and future progress
EditorsJohn Kemm
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages141-149
ISBN (Print)978019965601
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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