DAVIDSON, N.C. – The town of Davidson is one of a growing number of localities expressing interest in health impact assessments (HIA), largely as a result of grants provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and given to municipalities to encourage the utilization of HIAs.
 
Davidson Design for Life Coordinator Katherine Hebert has conducted three HIAs, and is currently involved in four additional ones. She is looking into the Davidson Pedestrian Plan, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, universal design in housing and food accessibility in the town.
 
The town has invited Dr. Martin Birley, who has pioneered HIAs, to talk about “Incorporating Health Impact Assessment Into Government and Corporate Activities” on April 19. “The Davidson Design for Life program is pleased to host Dr. Martin Birley to help educate citizens on how health impact assessments can be used by governments and businesses to consider the health impact of their decisions,” said Hebert. “It’s quite an honor to have someone of his stature come to town.”
 
NACS has been keeping an eye on recent activity concerning health impact assessments and is currently tracking more than 100 HIAs across the country.  The town of Davidson is the latest to join the growing chorus of cites willing to limit the choices of their consumers and small business leaders in exchange for a payoff from CDC.
 
Corey Fitze, director of government relations at NACS said, "The CDC is aggressively using taxpayer dollars to further the use of Health Impact Assessments in cities throughout the country. In addition to grants to cities and other municipalities, the CDC is also issuing grants to activist organizations, effectively deputizing them as the public face of the effort on the ground and further ensuring the exclusion of the business community from the process.”

Fitze stated that the outcome of this effort will be to “limit consumer choice and prevent retailers from further serving their customers. Essentially, through their taxes, citizens are paying to have their choices limited.”