Measures to amplify the implementation of health impact assessment in East and Southern Africa.
1
Training and Research Support Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe
2
Africa and Middle East Relation, National Department of Health, Pretoria, South Africa
3
Health Research Support, Johannesburg, South Africa
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
A neoliberal globalisation has amplified transnational commercial activity in East and Southern Africa (ESA) and weakened market regulation, such as in mining, infrastructures, energy, and manufacturing. While these activities potentially bring health benefit, they also bring significant population health harms that need to be controlled.
METHODS:
Health impact assessment (HIA) provides an internationally recognised method to assess and manage health risks in commercial activities. Inequitably, it is scarcely applied in ESA, despite greater need. This workshop presents evidence from convenor experience, desk review and government, professional and civil society structured dialogue during regional HIA training, to stimulate group discussion in the session on the barriers, enablers to, and measures to scale-up HIA in the region.
RESULTS:
The workshop introduces the steps in HIA, its current level of and barriers to implementation in ESA, and the consequences for sectors, states and populations of implementation deficits. We outline opportunities in stated policy support for HIA, and the legal, capacity, information, institutional and political economy drivers of the gap between policy and practice in ESA. To overcome the gap, we introduce and work in the session groups on a theory of change to amplify HIA, building on measures underway in ESA, to (i) generate policy and public awareness of the health, socio-political and economic value of HIA; (ii) build multisectoral capacities and cross-sectoral interaction for HIA; (iii) widen information sharing on and use of HIA findings and recommendations in key sectors; and (iv) develop and build support for guidance and legal/policy reforms to implement HIA, including as a separate but concurrent activity with economic and environment impact assessment.
CONCLUSIONS:
Through the measures presented and discussions in the workshop, including from wider international experience, participants will identify options, steps, assets and resources to draw on to scale-up HIA in their own countries.
A neoliberal globalisation has amplified transnational commercial activity in East and Southern Africa (ESA) and weakened market regulation, such as in mining, infrastructures, energy, and manufacturing. While these activities potentially bring health benefit, they also bring significant population health harms that need to be controlled.
METHODS:
Health impact assessment (HIA) provides an internationally recognised method to assess and manage health risks in commercial activities. Inequitably, it is scarcely applied in ESA, despite greater need. This workshop presents evidence from convenor experience, desk review and government, professional and civil society structured dialogue during regional HIA training, to stimulate group discussion in the session on the barriers, enablers to, and measures to scale-up HIA in the region.
RESULTS:
The workshop introduces the steps in HIA, its current level of and barriers to implementation in ESA, and the consequences for sectors, states and populations of implementation deficits. We outline opportunities in stated policy support for HIA, and the legal, capacity, information, institutional and political economy drivers of the gap between policy and practice in ESA. To overcome the gap, we introduce and work in the session groups on a theory of change to amplify HIA, building on measures underway in ESA, to (i) generate policy and public awareness of the health, socio-political and economic value of HIA; (ii) build multisectoral capacities and cross-sectoral interaction for HIA; (iii) widen information sharing on and use of HIA findings and recommendations in key sectors; and (iv) develop and build support for guidance and legal/policy reforms to implement HIA, including as a separate but concurrent activity with economic and environment impact assessment.
CONCLUSIONS:
Through the measures presented and discussions in the workshop, including from wider international experience, participants will identify options, steps, assets and resources to draw on to scale-up HIA in their own countries.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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