THE APPLICATION OF WHOS HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION-SYSTEM (HEGIS) IN MAPPING ENVIRONMENTAL-HEALTH RISKS FOR THE EUROPEANREGION

The Health and Environment Geographic Information System (HEGIS) for E urope, which is being developed at the WHO European Centre for Environ ment and Health, will serve as a tool for the identification of 'hot s pots' of environmental degradation and/or 'hot spots' of 'poor' health . Such a tool is useful as a basis for national and international acti ons, under the umbrella of the Environmental Health Action Plan for Eu rope, which aim at the improvement and/or prevention of these 'hot spo ts'. HEGIS is designed to show patterns in human health and trends in the exposure to recognized health hazards on the subnational level. Th is way the system contributes to the assessment of health risks based on known exposure-health relationships and reliable as well as compati ble information collected by Member States. It can also be used to mon itor the effects of policies on the improvement of the environment and health. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.