On the 10th of June 2019 the Spanish Policy Dialogue took place in Madrid, Spain. Please find detailed information and pictures about the event below.

 

Title of the policy dialogue: 

ALTERNATIV35. Health Impact Assessment. Alternatives for effective implementation of Article 35 of the Spanish Public Health Act 33/2011

 

Extended explanation: 

This policy dialogue focused on Health Impact Assessment (HIA). HIA is a useful tool for evaluating health policies but also for increasing awareness about the Health in All Policies approach and for boosting inter-sectoral collaboration.

The goal of this policy dialogue was to consider the integration of HIA into environmental projects and policies, thus enhancing collaboration between the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition.

 

General Intro to CHRODIS PLUS Policy Dialogues:

This is the summary of one of the 17 policy dialogues organised under the Chrodis PLUS Joint Action. For a summary of all Policy dialogues please visit the chrodis.eu/policy-dialogues webpage. These dialogues are to serve as inspiration for policy makers in other countries who are seeking good practices to consider when planning their own national policy dialogue processes.

 

Problem identification:

The specific question for this policy dialogue was to elucidate which would be the most effective way to implement in practice HIA in all Spanish Regions and therefore developing Article 35 of the Spanish Public Health Act 33/2011 that mandates that selected regulations, plans, programmes and interventions with an impact on health are subjected to HIA.

 

What is the primary reason for choosing this topic in your country?

Article 35 of the Spanish Public Health Act 33/2011 does not specify which policies are eligible for HIA. Additionally, underway of finished policies are not eligible for HIA. However, their evaluation would provide useful information to policy makers.

Furthermore, the Act does not mandate to specifically use HIA methodology (or whether other methodologies are eligible).   HIA might be useful for evaluating some policies but others are not subjected to HIA. Other useful methodologies should be taken into account.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was already underway and mandatory. A debate among experts about integrating HIA into EIA as an effective solution is underway and some Spanish Regions are already implementing this approach.

 

The policy dialogue process:

A high level meeting with the participation of the Secretaries of both Ministries took place. The main dialogue was held between the General Director of Public Health and the General Director of Environmental Quality. After introductions by the representative from EuroHealthNet, and the other two keynote speakers from the General Directorate of Public Health, Quality and Innovation, the dialogue answered to the following questions:

·       Health and Environment are intimately related factors. What is your perception of such relationship?

·       How can we improve the integration of health into environmental policies and into EIA?

·       What is your opinion of the recommendations for HIA included in the document “Proposals towards effective Health Impact Assessment”? Which specific measures would you prioritize to effectively integrate health into environmental policies?

After the discussion it was agreed to accept the recommendations of the document “Proposals towards effective Health Impact Assessment” and to create an Inter-Departmental working group to tackle the above mentioned topics.

 

Key stakeholders:

Policy makers:

Both Secretaries introduced the policy dialogue to the audience and the general directors held the dialogue

Hugo Morán. Secretary of State of Environment, MITECO.

Faustino Blanco. General Secretary of Health and Consumer Affairs. MSCBS.

Francisco Javier Cachón. General Director of Biodiversity and Environmental Quality. MITECO

Pilar Aparicio. General Director of Public Health, Quality and Innovation. MSCBS.

Keynote Speakers:

Lina Papartyte. EuroHealthNet.

Covadonga Caballo. Deputy Director of Environmental Health and Occupational Health. MSCBS.

Pilar Campos. Deputy Director of Health Promotion and Public Health Surveillance. MSCBS.

Moderator:

Antonio Sarría. Director of the National School of Health. Carlos III Health Institute.

Rapporteur:

Iñaki Imaz. Agency for Healthcare Technology Evaluation. Carlos III Health Institute.

Minute takers:

Jara Cubillo. Health Promotion Department. MSCBS

Alberto Martin-Pérez. Health Promotion Department. MSCBS

Attendees:

Ismael Aznar. Director of Cabinet of the State Secretary of Environment. MITECO

Francisco Muñoz. Advisor of Cabinet of the State Secretary of Environment. MITECO

Julio Bruno. Head of Technical Cabinet of the General Secretary of Health and Consumer Affairs. MSCBS.

Eugenio Domínguez. Deputy Director of Environmental Assessment. MITECO

Maj Britt Larka. Deputy Director of Air Quality and Industrial Environment. MITECO

Yolanda Agra. Deputy Director of Quality and Innovation. MSCBS.

Francisco Vargas, Margarita Palau, Santiago González. Subdirectorate General of Environmental Health and Occupational Health. MSCBS

María Terol, Claudia Ruiz-Huerta. Subdirectorate General of Health Promotion and Public Health Surveillance. MSCBS.

Carmen Arias. General Subidirectorate of Quality and Innovation.  MSCBS.

 

How the EU supported this dialogue?

EuroHealthNet participated in the policy dialogue introducing the main framework of Chrodis PLUS to participants and highlighting already conducted policy dialogues that had focused on intersectoral action for inspiration.

 

Photos from the event

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