Words of wisdom
Alex Scott-Samuel outlines the history and prospects for
the International HIA Conference

The first (UK) Health Impact Assessment Conference was held in Liverpool in
October 1998 - coincidentally, in the same city centre hotel where the 9th
conference was held in 2008. An indication of the importance of this new
event, and of the new approach it showcased, was that two government
ministers spoke at the conference: a rare event in England. These were
Tessa Jowell, the Minister for Public Health and Michael Meacher, Minister
for the Environment.

While its origins in the economic South go back to the early 1980s, HIA
began to happen in so-called developed countries in the early 1990s. The
first UK work programme began in 1995 at Liverpool Public Health
Observatory, and The Merseyside Guidelines for Health Impact Assessment
were launched at the first UK HIA conference in 1998.

The first four conferences were held in Liverpool, following which the
conference took place in Birmingham (twice), Cardiff and Dublin, the 9th
conference returning to Liverpool in celebration of the event's tenth
birthday.

Over the first 10 years, participation has broadened from a mainly public
health audience to include health promotion, environmental health, town
planning, housing and a variety of non-governmental (voluntary)
organisations - not to mention a range of civil service and academic
participants. In a similar way, the initially UK audience has expanded to
cover many European countries, the Americas (especially Canada and the US),
Asia (especially Thailand and Japan), Australia and New Zealand. Each year
has seen participation from a number of additional countries.

The high profile given to HIA ('health equity impact assessment') in the
recently published report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of
Health will further reinforce the profile and the global coverage of the
International HIA Conference. My very best wishes go to the organisers of
the 10th conference - which I am confident will represent a further,
significant development In the globalisation of health impact assessment.

Dr Alex Scott-Samuel
Director
IMPACT - International Health Impact Assessment Consortium
Division of Public Health
University of Liverpool