Development of Indicators for Regional Priority Goal II of Children′s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE)

Abstract

MAB1-PD-01 Session Title: Environmental Health Indicators Introduction: The Regional Priority Goal (RPG) II of the CEHAPE aims “ … to prevent and substantially reduce the health consequences from accidents and injuries and pursue a decrease in morbidity from lack of adequate physical activity, by promoting safe, secure and supportive human settlements for all children.” As part of the Environment and Health Information System (ENHIS) project coordinated by the World Health Organization, we developed indicators to monitor the children's health and its environmental determinants and policies. Methods: An initial list of 40 indicators was proposed through 2 approaches. Indicators previously developed in the framework of the ECOEHIS (European Community Environmental Health Information System) were adjusted to the child population. New indicators were proposed and examined through intensive consultation with a group of international experts. The initially proposed indicators were evaluated on the basis of: 1) scientific evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the environmental factor and health, 2) amenability to provide information at an international scale, and 3) policy relevance. Methodology sheets, which included the indicators definition and justification, underlying concepts, composing variables, calculation method, international data sources etc., were prepared for the 8 indicators selected through this process. Developing the methodology sheets served as pre-screening to determine the need for testing their feasibility in the participating countries. For 1 indicator, data were confirmed to be unavailable internationally, and the indicator was put in an extended list. Data availability in international data sources was confirmed for 4 indicators (1 indicator adjusted from ECOEHIS). The remaining indicators were screened for feasibility and policy relevance in 8 countries. The 3 indicators were considered relevant and data availability was confirmed in all participating countries. Results: The core set of indicators focus on exposure, health effects, and actions and include: childhood mortality from traffic accidents, children mortality from external causes, excluding traffic, percentage of physically active children, prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity, policies to promote safe mobility and transport for children, policies to reduce child injury, policies to prevent childhood obesity; extended set: mode of child transportation to school. Discussion: These indicators are under pilot testing in the framework of ENHIS-2 project and will be used to monitor the implementation of CEHAPE at the intergovernmental meeting in 2007. We expect the pilot study to demonstrate their utility to analyze the interrelationships between transport, health mobility, and health. Acknowledgments: F. Racciopi, D. Sethi, ENHIS partners, EC DG Sanco Grant 2003112.