Green Data for Health
Environmental data serving a better understandingof the health impact of the environment
The environment, a major determinant of our health
According to the WHO, environmental and behavioral factors are responsible for at least 15% of deaths in Europe, which corresponds to about 1.4 million deaths per year, most of which are avoidable. Better describing the effect of environmental factors on human, animal, and ecosystem health (according to the One Health approach) is a major public health challenge. These issues are a key part of most actions of the PNSE4, materialized for action 18 by the Green Data for Health.
On the other hand, the French government’s Green Nation ambition identifies the enhancement of environmental data as a major project to carry out actions to adapt to the impacts of climate change, preserve and restore biodiversity, and protect our natural resources, as well as reduce pollution in environments – in order to guarantee everyone a healthy environment to live better and healthier.
Green Data for Health, flagship action of the 4th National Health-Environment Plan
Green Data for Health (CGDD/SRI/Ecolab), a service offer led by a body integrating public research and expertise organizations (including INSERM, Anses, Public Health France, and Ineris), is the realization of a flagship action of PNSE4. It fits into the challenges of public health-environment policies by providing a better understanding of the impact of environmental factors on health and stimulating research in health-environment.
A service offer aimed at researchers and experts in health-environment
In order to facilitate the mobilization and enhancement of environmental data by research and environmental health expertise actors, the service offer of Green Data for Health revolves around three components:
- An online data catalog, visited over 7,000 times since its opening in December 2022 and pointing to approximately 130 useful public environmental datasets described for use in health-environment;
- Legal support tools: about twenty sheets available online explaining the fundamentals of environmental data law, and a legal self-assessment tool for data producers (a digital commons currently in development);
- The animation of the Health-Environment Data Community, around quality enhancement actions for the data:
- Support for 4 research projects within a joint call for projects with the Health Data Hub;
- Framing and development, within a Challenge, of useful tools to enable better mobilization of environmental data by a multitude of health-environment actors;
- Biannual plenary sessions of the Health-Environment Data Community. They brought together 130 actors last July and recorded nearly 300 registrations for the session on March 9, 2023.
Engaged actors for a better mobilization of data in service of research and public policies in health-environment
The second meeting of the Health-Environment Data Community took place on March 9, 2023, and emphasized the levers for better mobilizing data in service of research and public policies in health-environment. A focus was made on including these issues and establishing initiatives at all levels, including at the territorial level.
An illustration of the increased collaboration between environmental and health data systems/infrastructures was given at the end of the day, through the announcement of the four winning research projects from the joint call for projects between the Health Data Hub and Green Data for Health (CGDD/SRI/Ecolab).
A partnership in favor of innovation and research in health-environment and in service of major public health challenges
The call for projects stimulates and facilitates the intersections between environmental and health data by addressing some of the difficulties in identifying and accessing data and the barriers related to interoperability challenges.
The support offered by Ecolab (CGDD/SRI) and the Health Data Hub supports innovation and research on significant public health exposure factors (industrial basins, endocrine disrupting substances, and noise). Thus, much less often addressed in research than air pollution, noise is the second cause of morbidity in Europe according to the WHO.
The latest news from Green Data for Health
Retour on the 3rd edition of the Health-Environment Data Community!
The third edition of the Health-Environment Data Community took place on Friday, March 15, 2024, bringing together local stakeholders, researchers, and health-environment innovation actors. The event showcased research projects and new innovative initiatives and perspectives for better mobilization and enhancement of environmental data in the service of health-environment. 120 participants gathered in person and remotely for the event, featuring 22 different speakers. A strong reaffirmation of the health-environment issue by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion…