Community Responses to New Energy Sources: role of IA: Presentation 3

HIA of fuel ethanol project in Sierra Leone

Used the standard HIA methodology

Undertook a baseline survey which used a range of indicators:

• Household and community level
• Personal status, structural and health system indicators
• Involved questionnaire survey, clinical field work, water quality analysis, soil analysis for parasites

 

Prevalence of malaria parasitaemia

• 45% morbidity in the country
• The only community that had low prevalence because they had mosquito bednets

Anaemia prevalence was low

 

Nutritional indicators

• Some local people were lending land to the project so wante dot check the baseline for wasting, stunting and underweight.
• Significant stunting.

 

HIV prevalence

• Prevalence in the area was low at 1-2%
• But in Freetown and other major urban areas the prevalence was near to 30%
• Questioned community knowledge about HIV infection routes - only just under 4% had adequate knowledge

 

Analysis of impacts

• Significance of malaria likely to be moderate but if mitigation measures implemented then could be positive/beneficial.
• ...

Community health management plan

• Management was based on level of impact and who would manage it and developed monitoring indicators to measure process and outcome.
• Should do repeated health indicator surveys at sentinel sites
• Record available routine health data
• Structural indicators - general infrastructure, primary health unit, drinking water points
• Process indicators - availability and u of condoms, availability and use of bednets,
• Outcome indicators - ...

This particular ESHIA was considered outstanding in comparison to 19 other ESHIAs.