School of Public Health and Social Work, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013 Mar 22;10(3):1139-51. doi: 10.3390/ijerph10031139.
Climate change presents risks to health that must be addressed by both decision-makers and public health researchers. Within the application of Environmental Health Impact Assessment (EHIA), there have been few attempts to incorporate climate change-related health risks as an input to the framework. This study used a focus group design to examine the perceptions of government, industry and academic specialists about the suitability of assessing the health consequences of climate change within an EHIA framework. Practitioners expressed concern over a number of factors relating to the current EHIA methodology and the inclusion of climate change-related health risks. These concerns related to the broad scope of issues that would need to be considered, problems with identifying appropriate health indicators, the lack of relevant qualitative information that is currently incorporated in assessment and persistent issues surrounding stakeholder participation. It was suggested that improvements are needed in data collection processes, particularly in terms of adequate communication between environmental and health practitioners. Concerns were raised surrounding data privacy and usage, and how these could impact on the assessment process. These findings may provide guidance for government and industry bodies to improve the assessment of climate change-related health risks.
气候变化给健康带来了风险，决策者和公共卫生研究人员都必须应对这些风险。在环境健康影响评估（EHIA）的应用中，很少有尝试将与气候变化相关的健康风险作为输入纳入框架。本研究采用焦点小组设计，探讨了政府、工业界和学术界专家对在 EHIA 框架内评估气候变化对健康影响的适宜性的看法。从业人员对与当前 EHIA 方法学以及纳入与气候变化相关的健康风险有关的若干因素表示关注。这些关切涉及到需要考虑的广泛问题、确定适当的健康指标方面的问题、目前纳入评估的相关定性信息的缺乏以及围绕利益攸关方参与的持续问题。有建议指出，需要改进数据收集过程，特别是在环境和卫生从业人员之间进行充分沟通方面。还提出了围绕数据隐私和使用的问题，以及这些问题如何影响评估过程。这些发现可能为政府和行业机构提供指导，以改进对与气候变化相关的健康风险的评估。
