Health and the environment: monitoring options

On 12 May 2000, the government ministers with responsibility for Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) asked the Health Council to identify ‘the conditions to be met by monitoring programmes used in support of policy in the area of environment and health’. They cited the following range of situations which lend themselves to monitoring: environmental incidents, perceived health problems which citizens ascribe to local environmental factors, health assess-ments of various policy scenarios and in tracking trends in the repercussions of environmental policy in order to protect public health.