Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a practical approach used to judge the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project on a population, particularly on vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. Recommendations are produced for decision-makers and stakeholders, with the aim of maximising the proposal’s positive health effects and minimising its negative health effects.
HIA is based on four values that link the HIA to the policy environment in which it is being undertaken:
Democracy – allowing people to participate in the development and implementation of policies, programmes or projects that may impact on their lives
Equity – HIA assesses the distribution of impacts from a proposal on the whole population, with a particular reference to how the proposal will affect vulnerable people (in terms of age, gender, ethnic background and socio-economic status)
Sustainable development – that both short and long term impacts are considered, along with the obvious, and less obvious impacts
Ethical use of evidence – the best available quantitative and qualitative evidence must be identified and used in the assessment. A wide variety of evidence should be collected using the best possible methods.

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Key words: Health Impact Assessment, Democracy, Equity, Sustainable development, Ethical use of evidence