4.X.2. PechaKucha: The Politics of Health Impact Assessment

Abstract Impact assessment is commonly presented as a central pillar of evidence-based policy-making and the solution to making ‘better’ regulation. It has also been identified as a mechanism by which the Health in All Policies (HiAP) agenda might be advanced, ensuring that the health impacts of all interventions - whether originating in the health sector or not - are taken into account by policymakers. Yet, it remains difficult to identify, quantify and balance health impacts, to integrate qualitative and longer-term health costs and benefits into analysis, and ensure that the findings and nuances of impact assessment are considered within the policy process. Moreover, challenging current political developments may reduce input legitimacy and increase corporate capture of the impact assessment process, as seen in cases such as the tobacco industry. EUPHA has a well-established programme of work in this space, critiquing and advancing the practice of impact assessment in the public health field. Drawing on this expertise and adding value by combining it, this workshop brings together representatives from the Public Health Politics and Policy (PHPP), Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Public Health Economics (PHE) sections of EUPHA. A panel of experts will examine the role of impact assessment in health policy and address a core challenge to it; namely, the capacity for impact assessment to make the policy process more amenable to public health concerns. Presentations (using the 15x15 format) will introduce the European Commission's approach to (health) impact assessment (Orhan Pees), explore existing methodologies of HIA and the challenges that they face (Martin), critique the applicability of dominant pharmacoeconomics approaches to assessment of public health interventions (Vasco Santos), examine the relevance of health system performance assessment to impact assessment exercises (Blümel et al.). Each panellist will be asked to close their presentation by addressing the following question: to what extent is impact assessment a valuable tool for delivering policy that is good for health? Key messages • Impact assessment has advanced significantly in recent years, but its ability to deliver better policy outcomes for health requires continual, multidisciplinary appraisal. • Sound evaluation of health impact requires clinical, economic and political expertise, an interface which EUPHA is uniquely situated to promote. Speakers/Panellists Rana Orhan Pees Ecorys, Rotterdam, Netherlands Piedad Martin-Olmedo Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública, Granada, Spain João Vasco Santos University of Porto / CINTESIS / ARS Norte, Porto, Portugal Miriam Blümel Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, Germany