Health impact assessment (HIA) of political proposals at the local level: successful introduction, but what has happened 15 years later?

Abstract

Health impact assessments (HIAs) were first introduced in Sweden in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the aim of placing health issues on the political agenda and helping to reduce health inequalities. In the early 2000s, HIAs entered a second phase and the Swedish Parliament adopted a national public health policy. A national survey conducted in 2001 showed that 10/289 municipalities had begun to use HIA and 55/289 had decided to use HIA or had initiated an adoption process. In a 2013 follow-up study based on a strategic sample of municipalities, 9/36 municipalities reported using HIA and/or similar tools. Corresponding figures for the 21 Swedish regions were 10 regions in 2001 and four in 2013. HIA and similar tools (sustainability analyses, child impact assessments, and others) were applied to the same extent as HIA. Fifteen years after implementation began, HIA is still being used. Regions show a clear decrease in the use of HIA. There are several explanations for this development. One is the political context, and other explanations are shifts in which actors are responsible for HIA and for public health at the local/regional levels.