HEALTH RISK ANALYSIS RELATED TO EXPOSURE TO AMBUENT AIR CONTAMINATION AS A COMPONENT IN THE STRATEGY AIMED AT REDUCING GLOBAL NON-INFECTIOUS EPIDEMICS
The article dwells on the analysis of the latest world data indicating that ambient air contamination is one of the most significant risk factors causing non-infectious diseases. Adverse effects produced on health are the most evident among sensitive population groups (women, children, and elderly people). It was noted that risk management with well-grounded choice on the most efficient activities aimed at its minimization was rather rare in Russia; it is a key problem related to practical implementation of health risk analysis methodology in the country. We highlighted that health risk analysis methodology was successfully applied when “Pure air” federal project was implemented within “Ecology” national project. We recommended basic stages in assessing efficiency of activities aimed at health risk management, reducing population morbidity and mortality, creating comfortable and favorable urban environment in 12 cities that participated in “Pure air” federal project. The article also contains suggestions on a unified algorithm based on economic estimation of alternative health risk management techniques and ways to provide sanitary-epidemiologic welfare. The algorithm includes substantiating a necessity to perform examinations and health risk assessment under “basic” exposure, and determining priority problems; assessing residual health risks after each considered activity, assessing efficiency of technological, economic, and health-influencing activities; comparative health risk assessment; health risks ranking taking into account additional effects, as well as technological and economic efficiency; substantiating choice on the most optimal activities and presenting conclusions to decision-makers in the field; giving grounds for a decision being taken.