Objectives: This article explains how the issue of stakeholder involvement was addressed in the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) Project and describes the structures of future stakeholder involvement in the EUnetHTA Collaboration.
Methods: Initiatives led to a dialogue with stakeholders and exchanging views and expectations on health technology assessment (HTA) processes and the future development of EUnetHTA. The methods of involving different stakeholder groups in EUnetHTA included general information to stakeholders about EUnetHTA, targeted information on a Web site, analysis of stakeholder opinions on HTA and EUnetHTA, and development of a draft stakeholder policy.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care
December 2009
Objectives: This article presents an overview of the practical methods and tools to support transnational Health Technology Assessment (HTA) that were developed and pilot tested by the European network for HTA (EUnetHTA), which involved a total of sixty-four Partner organizations.
Methods: The methods differ according to scope and purpose of each of the tools developed. They included, for example, literature reviews, surveys, Delphi and consensus methods, workshops, pilot tests, and internal/public consultation.
Int J Occup Med Environ Health
February 2008
Objectives: To evaluate existing research on the environmental health of children and provide a prioritised list of risk factors and policy recommendations for action, the Policy Interpretation Network on Children's Health and Environment (PINCHE) was set up within EU FP5 (QLK4-2002-02395). The project focused on air pollutants, carcinogens, neurotoxicants and noise. PINCHE was a multidisciplinary and multinational network of representatives from science, industry, NGOs, and consumer and patient organisations in Europe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Policy recommendations result from the discussions and analysis of the present situation in environment and health. Such analysis was performed in PINCHE. This led to recommendations based on the scientific literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: All children are exposed to multiple physical, chemical and biological challenges that can result in adverse health effects before and after birth. In this context, the danger of multiple exposures cannot be assessed from a single-chemical approach as used in classical toxicology.
Aim: To open up a 'negotiation space' for the problem of multiple exposure to environmental stressors, defined as any physical, chemical or biological entity that can induce an adverse response.
Background: Noise can have auditory and non-auditory effects on children. Very few noise episodes affect children's hearing instantaneously; most effects are long-term and cumulative. Describing the risks of noise on children's health and well-being in a life-course perspective can illustrate the prospects of cumulative effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/methods: The aim of workpackage 5 'Environmental exposures and children's health: impact of socioeconomic factors' in the EU-funded network PINCHE (Policy Interpretation Network on Children's Health and Environment) was to review and interpret the current knowledge of social inequalities in environmental exposures and children's health. Socioeconomic factors may impact on children's environmental health in two ways: 1) environmental exposures may differ according to socioeconomic status; 2) given a certain level of harmful environmental exposure, socioeconomic factors may modify the health effects by influencing the susceptibility characteristics of children.
Results: There is a lack of information to evaluate and quantify the effect of socioeconomic factors on environmental exposures and children's health in Europe.
Background: Facts and hypotheses on the relationship between some children's diseases or disorders and external stressors during the developmental stage of a child, both prenatally and postnatally are described in literature. In this paper the following changes in patterns and causes of the main childhood illnesses are summarized and recommendations for actions are made. Prematurity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Paediatr Suppl
October 2006
Aim: The main objective of PINCHE is to provide policy recommendations aiming at protecting children's health and environment based on completed scientific research. The project focused on four themes: indoor and outdoor air pollutants, carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and noise. The data were evaluated in workpackages on exposure assessment, epidemiology, toxicology, and risk and health impact assessment.
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