Matte Thomas D, Cohen Aaron, Dimmick Fred, Samet Jonathan, Sarnat Jeremy, Yip Fuyuen, Jones Nicholas
Air Qual Atmos Health. 2009 Dec;2(4):177-184. doi: 10.1007/s11869-009-0059-6. Epub 2009 Dec 31.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) program to support state and local projects that characterize the impact of the environment on health. The projects involve compiling, linking, analyzing, and disseminating environmental and health surveillance information, thereby engaging stakeholders and guiding actions to improve public health. One of the EPHT objectives is to track the public health impact of ambient air pollution with analyses that are timely and relevant to state and local stakeholders. To address methodological issues relevant to this objective, in January 2008, government officials and researchers from the USA, Canada, and Europe gathered in Baltimore, Maryland for a 2-day workshop. Using commissioned papers and presentations on key methodological issues as well as examples of previous air pollution impact assessments, work group discussions produced a set of consensus recommendations for the EPHT program. These recommendations noted the need for data that will encourage local stakeholders to support continued progress in air pollution control. The limitations of using only local data for analyses were also noted. To improve local estimates of air pollution health impacts, methods were recommended that "borrow strength" from other evidence. An incremental approach to implementing such methods was recommended. The importance and difficulty of communicating uncertainties in local health impact assessments was emphasized, as was the need for coordination among different agencies conducting health impact assessments.
美国疾病控制与预防中心设立了环境公共卫生追踪（EPHT）项目，以支持那些描述环境对健康影响的州和地方项目。这些项目包括汇编、关联、分析和传播环境与健康监测信息，从而让利益相关者参与进来，并指导改善公共卫生的行动。EPHT的目标之一是通过及时且与州和地方利益相关者相关的分析，追踪环境空气污染对公共卫生的影响。为解决与这一目标相关的方法学问题，2008年1月，来自美国、加拿大和欧洲的政府官员及研究人员齐聚马里兰州巴尔的摩，参加了一场为期两天的研讨会。利用委托撰写的关于关键方法学问题的论文和报告以及以往空气污染影响评估的实例，工作组讨论为EPHT项目提出了一套共识性建议。这些建议指出需要能鼓励地方利益相关者支持空气污染控制持续取得进展的数据。还指出了仅使用本地数据进行分析的局限性。为改进对空气污染健康影响的本地评估，建议采用从其他证据中“借鉴力量”的方法。建议采用渐进方式实施此类方法。强调了在本地健康影响评估中传达不确定性的重要性和难度，以及不同机构在进行健康影响评估时进行协调的必要性。
