Quantifying environmental health effects

One of the main objectives of environmental policy in the Netherlands is to contribute to improved public health. One way of doing this is to reduce harmful effects such as exposure to particulate matter or noise. To be able to decide the best way of achieving an improvement, information is needed about the scale of health impairment experienced by the public at large and how this can be affected by intervention. There are various metrics for quantifying health impairment. Three are discussed here.
A commonly used term in the healthcare sector is the QALY (quality-adjusted life year), which is used to determine the health benefits obtainable from medical services. A QALY represents a year’s living in full health. Years lived in less than perfect health are translated into healthy years. A medical service can be rated in terms of the number of QALYs gained, making it possible to compare the various options against each other in terms of effectiveness. Estimating the costs for each option per QALY gained then allows the costs to be taken into account when making decisions about the allocation of resources.

Committee

• Professor F.A. de Wolff, Emeritus Professor of Clinical and Forensic Toxicology, Amsterdam, chairman
• Professor R. Bal, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Institute of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam
• Dr. J.J. van Busschbach, psychologist, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam
• Dr. G. van Donselaar, philosopher, University of Amsterdam
• Dr. H.F.G. van Dijk, Health Council, The Hague, adviser
• Dr. A.E.M. de Hollander, Public Health Status and Forecasting Project Leader, RIVM, Bilthoven
• Professor B.A. van Hout, Professor of Medical Technology Assessment, Julius Centre for Health Science and Primary Medicine, University Medical Centre, Utrecht
• Dr. H.M.E. Miedema, psychologist, TNO Built Environment and Geosciences, Delft
• Dr. P.W. van Vliet, Health Council, The Hague, secretary