Improving Health and Reducing Inequalities: A Practical Guide to Health Impact Assessment

(WHIASU) A basic guide to conducting a HIA. 1. Health impact assessment is a tool that can help organisations to assess the possible consequences of their decisions on people۪s health and well-being, thereby helping to develop more integrated policies and programmes. 2. This document has been developed as a practical guide to health impact assessment. It is designed to meet the needs of a variety of organisations by explaining the concept, the process and its flexibility, and by providing templates that can be adjusted to suit. 3. The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to developing the use of health impact assessment in Wales as a part of its strategy to improve health and wellbeing and to reduce health inequalities. This practical guide has been prepared by the Welsh Health Impact Assessment Support Unit, which was established by the Welsh Assembly Government to encourage and support organisations and groups in Wales to use the approach. 4. The development and use of health impact assessment will contribute to the ongoing development and implementation of local health, social care and wellbeing strategies, which is a joint statutory responsibility for Local Health Boards and local authorities. It can also contribute to Community Strategies which, given their overarching nature and breadth and depth, can address social, economic and environmental determinants of health, and to the implementation of Communities First, the Welsh Assembly Government۪s crosscutting regeneration programme. 5. The development of Health Challenge Wales as the national focus for improving health in Wales reinforces efforts to prevent ill health. Tools such as health impact assessment can help organisations and groups in all sectors to identify ways in which they can help people to improve their health

Methodologies for sustainability impact assessments of proposals for new trade agreements Some issues relevant to their future development

Also available via the InternetAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:9350.83746(no 2) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Livelihood Asset Status Tracking (LAST) A case from Rajasthan

Also available via the InternetSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:9350.83746(no. 3) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Integrated impact assessment for sustainable development Case studies and some preliminary conclusions

Also available via the InternetAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:9350.83746(no 1) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Changes in the quality of environmental statements for planning projects

Research reportAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-96/ENV / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Trade measures and sustainable development Review of literature on 'win-win' scenarios in developing countries

Includes bibliographical references. 'This report has been prepared for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions ...'Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/18357 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

How the factoid of wind turbines causing \u27vibroacoustic disease\u27 came to be \u27irrefutably demonstrated\u27

Objective: In recent years, claims have proliferated in cyberspace that wind turbines cause a large variety of symptoms and diseases. One of these, vibroacoustic disease (VAD) is frequently mentioned. The aim of this study is to examine the quality of the evidence on how VAD came to be associated with wind turbine exposure by wind farm opponents. Methods: Searches of the web (Google advanced) and major research databases for papers on VAD and wind turbines. Self-citation analysis of research papers on VAD. Results: Google returned 24,700 hits for VAD and wind turbines. Thirty-five research papers on VAD were found, none reporting any association between VAD and wind turbines. Of the 35 papers, 34 had a first author from a single Portuguese research group. Seventy-four per cent of citations to these papers were self-citations by the group. Median self-citation rates in science are around 7%. Two unpublished case reports presented at conferences were found asserting that VAD was irrefutably demonstrated to be caused by wind turbines. The quality of these reports was abject. Conclusions: VAD has received virtually no scientific recognition beyond the group who coined and promoted the concept. There is no evidence of even rudimentary quality that vibroacoustic disease is associated with or caused by wind turbines. Implications: The claim that wind turbines cause VAD is a factoid that has gone \u27viral\u27 in cyberspace and may be contributing to nocebo effects among those living near turbines