Health impact assessment in Portugal

Abstract

Abstract HIA can act as a catalyst for intersectoral involvement and embody the concept of Health in All Policies and the whole-of-governance approach. The National Institute of Health (INSA), with technical support of WHO, designed an HIA capacity-building program, to develop technical skills and instruments for HIA implementation. As products of this Training Program, two policy dialogues were held with stakeholders from various sectors to discuss the difficulties, barriers and opportunities for HIA institutionalization in Portugal. The absence of a common glossary was point out. In fact, different sectors, namely Health and Environment, have different languages that are reflected in the approaches, planning and methods used, which can be competing instead of complementary. To overcome this issue, it was highlighted the need for an intersectoral committee to define a common strategy for HIA. Other suggestion was the creation of a technical unit in the Ministry of Health in order to assume the coordination and quality of the Public Health response in this subject. The experts also recognized the importance of the adoption of common guidelines including a glossary, the definition of dedicated structures, the studies' scale and level of depth, the resources and technical skills required and a set of tools to support the development of studies. As an opportunity, it was identified the transposition of the European Directive 2014/24/EU, which made mandatory that EIA must assess the significant effects of a project in 'population and human health'. This requisite implies intersectoral dialogue and strait work in order to respond to legal demands. In addition, the new Law on Health Bases (2019) determines that the approval of national legislative measures, with relevant impact in Health, must be preceded by previous studies. These elements constitute a new impulse and an opportunity for intersectoral dialogue and HIA implementation in Portugal.