The impact of the European Environment and Health Process on UK environment and health policy, plans and practice: what difference has it made?

The European Environment and Health Process (EEHP), led by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, aims to support WHO Member States as they plan and implement national and international environment and health policies. An evaluation of the impact of the EEHP in the UK was conducted in preparation for the fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest, 2004. The evaluation identified a number of impacts and influences of the EEHP. This concluded that the process had only a marginal direct influence on policy within the UK. However, it was also concluded that the process had resulted in several indirect influences, including better cooperation between government departments, greater awareness of environment and health issues from an international perspective, and a higher political profile of environment and health issues. A few outcomes of the EEHP also appear to have been taken into account in some national and local policy documents. The National Environmental Health Action Plan, which was produced as a direct result of the EEHP, appears to have had little direct impact in the UK, probably because of the lack of an implementation process and indicators, and because it was superseded by other policy initiatives relatively soon after publication. A need for better coordination and promotion of the EEHP amongst stakeholders responsible for environment and health policy areas was also identified.