Legislation

The responsibility for applying HiAP can emerge from 1) legal requirements to incorporate HiAP into policy, where members of sectors beyond health would be expected to contact health experts, or 2) it can be public health experts approaching other sectors on the basis of their knowledge of how important health determinants are impacted by a policy outside of health, and where HiAP can have an impact. 

Legal mandates for the assessment of health implications of policies, as well as legal responsibilities to follow up and reporting on health determinants, population health trends and policies affecting them, are important instruments in institutionalizing health in other policies. In the development of environmental health risk assessments, important opportunities were offered by making a Strategic Environmental Assessment mandatory, even if not all risks can be quantified.

Example: Public Health Act 2006 (revised), Finland. The Act requires intersectoral action in health promotion at the local level, and the use of health impact assessment is encouraged.