The impact of refugees on the health status and health services of host communities: Compounding bad with worse?

Although there have been a number of recent developments in our understanding of refugee health problems that have influenced policies and action, the effects of refugees on the health status and services of host communities remain relatively neglected. This article sets out to explain why this is an important issue with implications for policy, planning surveillance and evaluation, training and research.
The first sections outline some of the problems facing host governments and communities in Africa and discuss the changing rhetoric between the first and second International Conferences for Assistance to Refugees in Africa. A number of possible ways in which refugees could affect the individual, agent and environmental causes of disease are considered, as are the characteristics of the refugees, the host communities and the response which may all modify this impact.
Policy implications of the impact of the refugees, both negative and positive, are discussed, and detailed consideration is given to the pros and cons of integrated and parallel approaches to health care provision. The need to monitor carefully the health status and services of host communities is emphasized and recommendations are made for this and other essential developments relating to training and research.     

Can health feasibly be considered as part of the planning process in Scotland?

The planning system is significant because of its capacity to determine the quality of the built environment as well as the health, well-being and quality of life of the individuals and communities therein. Development planning is especially important because of the long-term impact of the decisions. This paper was developed in response to increasing recognition amongst HIA practitioners in Scotland of the importance of planning for health. It focuses on the relationship between the planning system in Scotland, specifically the Development Planning element of it, and population health and considers how the health impact assessment (HIA) approach can facilitate and support joint working with planners. In particular, consideration is given to the potential impact of the introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on the linkages between health, HIA and planning.     

Equity-focused health impact assessment: A tool to assist policy makers in addressing health inequalities

In Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) the use of health impact assessment (HIA) as a tool for improved policy development is comparatively new. The public health workforce do not routinely assess the potential health and equity impacts of proposed policies or programs. The Australasian Collaboration for Health Equity Impact Assessment was funded to develop a strategic framework for equity-focused HIA (EFHIA) with the intent of strengthening the ways in which equity is addressed in each step of HIA. The collaboration developed a draft framework for EFHIA that mirrored, but modified the commonly accepted steps of HIA; tested the draft framework in six different health service delivery settings; analysed the feedback about application of the draft EFHIA framework and modified it accordingly. The strategic framework shows promise in providing a systematic process for identifying potential differential health impacts and assessing the extent to which these are avoidable and unfair. This paper presents the EFHIA framework and discusses some of the issues that arose in the case study sites undertaking equity-focused HIA.     

大气可吸入颗粒物研究进展

简述了国内外有关大气颗粒物中的可吸入颗粒物 (空气动力学直径小于或等于 10 μm)的研究进展 ,主要围绕可吸入颗粒物的基本特性、可吸入颗粒物与健康的关系、可吸入颗粒物的源解析 ,对其研究动向进行阐述。     

浅谈砷污染

金属冶炼，煤炭燃烧过程中向环境排出大量砷，严重危害人类健康．本文介绍了砷的污染来源，转移过程和对人体危害的机理，提醒人们注意砷的污染．     

环境污染对人群健康影响评价及其经济损失估算

为了定量地描述环境污染对人群健康的危害及其相应的经济损失，本文认为应对健康风险评价和人力资本法作进一步的研究，以便给出统一的规范化评价程序和计算方法。文中还对有关内容作了简要介绍。     

二噁英的毒性与防治

分析了二英的化学结构与毒性的关系，二英的来源，对人体健康的潜在危害以及可能造成的环境污染，提出了防治措施。     

酞酸酯对人与环境的危害

酞酸酯是一种增塑剂，随着时间的推移，可由塑料中转移到外环境，现已成为地球上最为广泛存在的环境污染物。该文较系统地介绍了酞酸酯的理化性质，毒性和致癌作用，以及其对环境的影响，环境行为，动物的吸收，分布、代谢和排泄等等，最后还对酞酸酯的有关毒性评价作了部分介绍。     

A transportation network assessment tool for hazardous material cargo routing: Weighing exposure health risks,proximity to vulnerable areas,delay costs and trucking expenses

The inherent risks associated with accidental releases of hazardous materials during transport have drawn attention and concerns in the recent decades. The aim of this study is to propose a tool for evaluation and comparison of the transportation networks which can be used to assess the routing options between origins and destinations of the cargos for their suitability for transporting hazardous material cargos by tanker trucks and to identify routes which provide lower accidental release risks, lower public exposure risks, and offer economical benefits. Each route segment of transportation networks were evaluated using specific criteria which included health risk and cost of delay in case of an accidental release of materials, trucking cost and proximity to vulnerable areas. Since, the health impact of hazardous materials differ depending on the characteristics of the material being transported as well as release quantities and atmospheric conditions; this paper aimed in providing a tool that can be used to estimate the impact radius (for health risks) after accidental release of hazardous materials by taking into account different atmospheric conditions based on the meteorological data and solar elevation angle. The Gaussian air dispersion model paired with ArcGIS using Python programming were employed to estimate the health risk impact zones by considering the meteorological data, and accordingly to analyze road segments for cost impacts (delay and trucking costs), and the proximity to vulnerable areas. The route assessment tool was demonstrated with a case study. The results of this study can efficiently aid decision makers for transportation of hazardous materials.     

Quantifying public health benefits of environmental strategy of PM2.5 air quality management in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, China

In 2013,China issued "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan(Action Plan)" to improve air quality.To assess the benefits of this program in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei(BTH)region,where the density of population and emissions vary greatly,we simulated the air quality benefit based on Ben MAP to satisfy the Action Plan.In this study,we estimate PM_(2.5) concentration using Voronoi spatial interpolation method on a grid with a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 km~2.Combined with the exposure-response function between PM_(2.5) concentration and health endpoints,health effects of PM_(2.5) exposure are analyzed.The economic loss is assessed by using the willingness to pay(WTP) method and human capital(HC) method.When the PM_(2.5) concentration falls by 25% in BTH and reached 60 μg/m~3 in Beijing,the avoiding deaths will be in the range of 3175 to 14051 based on different functions each year.Of the estimated mortality attributable to all causes,3117 annual deaths were due to lung cancer,1924 – 6318 annual deaths were due to cardiovascular,and343 – 1697 annual deaths were due to respiratory.Based on WTP,the estimated monetary values for the avoided cases of all cause mortality,cardiovascular mortality,respiratory mortality and lung cancer ranged from 1110 to 29632,673 to 13325,120 to 3579,1091 to 6574 million yuan,respectively.Based on HC,the corresponding values for the avoided cases of these four mortalities were 267 to 1178,161 to 529,29 to 143 and 261 million yuan,respectively.