Health impact assessment conference
Urban development and extractive industries: what can HIA offer?
Place: Geneva, Switzerland
Date: 7 April 2010
Health impact assessment (HIA) is a tool increasingly used to assess the impacts of urban development and expansion, as well as health impacts from industry, including oil, gas and mining. Recommendations are produced for decision-makers and stakeholders, with the aim of maximizing the proposal's positive health effects and minimizing its negative health effects.
A one-day conference on the topic of health impact assessment in cities and in extractive industries is being hosted by WHO at its Headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday, 7 April. The conference is open to the general public with prior registration (see link below).
The morning session of the conference will focus on HIA in various aspects of urban development, such as transport planning or new commercial projects, and as a tool for good city governance. Panellists will include senior figures from major cities, national health ministries and experts in the field. Examples and experiences from various cities and settings will be presented, and questions addressed about how to strengthen the use of HIA in cities and as a tool for improving urban health. Participants will join the official WHO celebration of World Health Day at 10:30, whose theme is urban health. In the afternoon the focus will be on HIA in extractive industries, with participants from development institutions, including development banks and donor agencies, developing country health agencies, industry and academia.