ABSTRACT
Development of natural resources always results in environmental change, it frequently causes demographic change and sometimes leads to environmental degradation. These immediate impacts may imply indirect, adverse effects on the health status of the affected communities. In the past, the health ministry was expected to pick up the pieces: development projects therefore often led to an increased burden on the health sector. Recently, it has become accepted that these health implications should be a matter of concern to a range of different government sectors. In institutional terms, these include ministries responsible for the natural resources and their development, ministries of planning and finance, ministries of health and environment, national environmental councils, ministries of local government and the counterparts of all these ministries at lower administrative levels, such as provinces, regions and districts.
