Information about the DYNAMO-HIA project.

Considerable health gain can be obtained by taking health into account in policy decisions. The European Union has identified health impact assessment (HIA) as a tool to achieve this. Health impact assessment needs reliable methods to predict health consequences of changes in exposure to determinants of health.

In 2007 the DYNAMO-HIA project started. The project aimed to contribute to informed policy making, both on the EU-level and the national level, by providing an instrument that enables health experts to predict the magnitude of health consequences that result from changing health determinants, using generally available data.

The DYNAMO-HIA project was funded by the EU Public Health Programme 2003–2008 of the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs (DG SANCO), with co-financing from the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the International Obesity task force, the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Haughton Institute in Dublin and the Instituto Tumori in Milan.

In order to structure the activities between associated partners, 'Work Packages' were assigned:

  1. Work package n° 1: Coordination of the project (Workpackage leader: Erasmus MC)
  2. Work package n° 2: Dissemination of the results (Workpackage leader: National Institute of Public Health (RIVM))
  3. Work package n° 3: Evaluation of the project (Workpackage leader: Erasmus MC)
  4. Work package n° 4: Model specification (Workpackage leader: Erasmus MC)
  5. Work package n° 5: Construction of software tool (Workpackage leader: National Institute of Public Health (RIVM))
  6. Work package n° 6: Smoking (Work package leader : Catalan Institute of Oncology)
  7. Work package n° 7: Overweight and obesity (Work package leader: the international Obesity task force)
  8. Work package n° 8: Alcohol (Work package leader: London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
  9. Work package n° 9: Cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Work package leader: Haughton Institute / University of Dublin)
  10. Work package n° 10: Cancer (Work package leader: Instituto Tumori, Milan)
  11. Work package n° 11: Development of HIA scenarios (Workpackage leader: Erasmus MC)

The Dynamo-HIA software was developed between 2007-2010. In 2010 it was made available at the Dynamo-HIA website.