The relatively high rates of certain diseases in the Ballyfermot area of Dublin cannot be directly linked to the traffic and transport concerns of residents, a major health study has found.
In the first health impact assessment (HIA) to be completed by a health authority in the Republic, the measurement of the health status of Ballyfermot residents found a pattern of relatively poor health. Although noise levels were found to be elevated in certain parts of the suburb, air pollution levels were within acceptable levels.
The researchers concluded that ill health in the area is primarily linked to high levels of socio-economic disadvantage.
While there was a decrease in the number of both serious and minor accidents in the Ballyfermot area for the period 1994 to 2002, high death rates from heart and lung disease were noted. Researchers found a high incidence of lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers for the period 1994 to 2000. Smoking rates are known to be higher in the Health Service Executive (HSE) South Western Area, which includes Ballyfermot, than nationally.
Some 609 cancers were noted in the Ballyfermot community in the seven-year study period, an excess of 18 per cent when compared with the eastern region as a whole. In relation to lung cancer, however, the report noted "a 93 per cent significant excess in the number of cases compared with the eastern region".
There was also an excess of cancers of the mouth and throat, although the overall number of cases was small. Lung, mouth and throat cancers are linked to smoking.
The HIA was carried out in 2004 in response to community concerns that air pollution levels, which had been a problem in the late 1980s, had risen again.
The former Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) - now Health Service Executive Eastern Region - received funding from Urban Ballyfermot to conduct the study. Representatives from Dublin City Council and the Institute of Public Health also worked on the project, which examined traffic pollution and noise levels in the context of established disease patterns.
A health impact assessment is a method of measuring the potential health effects of economic social and environmental factors on a community.
Dr Catherine Hayes, a specialist in Public Health Medicine with HSE (Eastern Region) and the group leader of the Ballyfermot project, said she would like to see a closer working relationship between local communities, local authorities and local health authorities on the many issues affecting health.