Health impact assessment of large infrastructure projects in the Brazilian Amazon

In Brazil, many large-scale infrastructure projects have been developed by the resource extraction, renewable energy and public infrastructure sectors all over the country. While it is common practice in Brazil to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the licensing process of such projects, the health impact assessment (HIA) approach is largely under-utilised. This has led to many concerns about adverse health impacts caused by large infrastructure projects. This project has three overall objectives. First, it aims at building up a set of case studies that specifically investigate health impacts that have occurred in the context of large infrastructure developments (i.e. hydropower, mining and petroleum projects). Second, through 1-week training courses on ‘HIA of large infrastructure projects in the Amazon basin’ that will be carried out in different regions of the country, the projects will build up capacities in HIA with a toolset that is fit for purpose in a tropical context. Third, the combination of case studies and HIA training courses will be used for triggering a policy dialogue at the regional and national level on current EIA practice and the potential of HIA in Brazil. This project is a collaboration between the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, and Swiss TPH

Involved Regions: Latin America and Caribbean
Involved Countries: Brazil

Contact

Mirko Winkler

Mirko Winkler, Associate Professor, PhD, DTM&H, MSc
Head of Unit

+41612848339, *
mirko.winklerswisstph.ch

Project Facts