The WHO’s Housing and Health programme aims to highlight the relationship betwen housing conditions and the health status of European citizens, as well as propose effective strategies that ensure housing conditions positively affect health.
Housing standards can have a significant effect on the health of residents: Health problems can occur as a result of materials used in the construction of a building, the equipment installed, or the size or design of the individual dwellings. As health requires a combination of physical, mental and social well-being, the WHO’s understanding of “housing” considers the physical structure of a dwelling, the meaning of home (for a family and each individual), the immediate external environment of the dwelling, and the neighbouring community.
The WHO housing and health programme has established a project to analyse how Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, design and implement regulations on housing and health. The results from the study will be published in a forthcoming report.
The first conclusions/recommendations to come from the project are as follows:
Good regulatory systems are fundamental for achieving health results: examples include CO, and fire safety regulations
Social housing/social aspects remain key aspects: the underprivileged have to be addressed as a priority by the regulations;
More attention has to be paid to vulnerable people: those who make the biggest use of the house are often the most vulnerable;
The health sector is not always a leading sector in the design, implementation etc. of the regulations related to housing and health;
There is little communication amongst different sectors when drafting regulations;
Each country has different priorities for developing its regulations
Different standards follow different approaches;
The final report should inform the European Ministries responsible for health and for housing on how best to formulate future regulation and/or action plans in the field of housing. It will also provide health actors and officials with evidence to ensure health is addressed in housing policies.
EPHA related articles:
Second WHO International Housing and Health Symposium
FEANTSA statement on EU State aid rules and social housing
The evidence and the options:How serious are inequalities in health in Europe and what can be done to reduce them?
