INFOTOX | Rapid Appraisal Health Impact Assessment

INFOTOX conducts health impact assessments according to the Good Practice guidance of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. INFOTOX is guided, amongst other IFC guidelines, by the IFC Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines for Mining and the EHS Guidelines for Waste Management Facilities.

The IFC differentiates between two types of health impact assessments (HIAs), namely, a Rapid Appraisal HIA and a comprehensive HIA, the latter which forms part of the full Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). The comprehensive HIA is recommended when the project is likely to attract or involve a significant influx of people, for example a large construction work force. Other factors in favour of a comprehensive HIA include resettlement or relocation of local inhabitants or communities, significant construction activity, or the assessment of a large project in a rural setting.

The air quality impact assessment covers the criteria pollutants particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. INFOTOX follows the principles of calculating relative risks and the attributable fraction of adverse health cases due to the identified sources of pollution, following comprehensive guideline documents of the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency. A health risk assessment is a prerequisite for determining a health impact rating. Simplistic comparison of community exposure concentrations of air pollutants to ambient air quality standards or guidelines does not relate quantitatively to potential community health risks.

INFOTOX reviews available published health literature to provide baseline health data on the underlying burden of disease for the Rapid Appraisal HIA and to identify specific vulnerabilities that might influence health impacts associated with the proposed mining and processing operations. This is referred to in general terms as Environmental Health Areas.

The following aspects are covered:

Evaluate the underlying burden of disease, based on information gathered by INFOTOX from available open sources.
Examples of open sources are World Health Organization health data and data available from in-country health institutions.
Various burden-of-disease indicators will be examined; e.g., vector-related (such as malaria) and waterborne diseases, sexually transmitted (such as HIV/AIDS), nutrition-related, communicable (such as TB), Covid-19, and non-communicable diseases.

The Rapid Appraisal HIA report provides perspectives on the health status of communities as documented in available data sources. The study then contextualises the Environmental Health Areas with Health Impact Issues, as outlined in the Introduction to Health Impact Assessment of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. Aspects that may be relevant to consider include potential influx of people, water management, linear features (e.g., roads, rail, and transmission lines), hazardous materials control and management, and infrastructure.