Theoretical Framework for Health Impact Assessment of Large Infrastructure Projects in the Niger Delta

Large infrastructure projects including pipelines, refineries, and industrial facilities in the Niger Delta generate health consequences for surrounding communities that are inadequately captured by existing environmental impact assessment frameworks lacking comprehensive health impact dimensions specific to the Nigerian context. This study developed an original theoretical framework for health impact assessment of large infrastructure projects in the Niger Delta. A framework development methodology integrating environmental health science, social determinants theory, and participatory research methods was employed. A systematic review of 38 publications on health impact assessment in oil-producing communities from 2015 to 2024 identified critical gaps in existing HIA methodology for Nigerian contexts, including inadequate treatment of cumulative health impacts, mental health consequences, community displacement health effects, and intergenerational health burden. Primary fieldwork involved participatory community health mapping in six Niger Delta communities in Bayelsa, Rivers, and Delta States affected by different infrastructure types, engaging 84 community members and 18 health and environmental specialists. The resulting Niger Delta Community Health Impact Assessment Framework introduces four original HIA dimensions absent from standard WHO HIA methodology: cumulative pollution body burden assessment, livelihood-health impact pathway analysis, displacement-induced health trajectory mapping, and environmental justice health equity weighting. The framework also proposes three participatory community engagement standards adapted for oil-community trust deficit contexts. Expert validation by 20 environmental health, public health, and community medicine scholars confirmed the framework's methodological originality and practical applicability for Nigerian regulatory and legal contexts.

Keywords: health impact assessment, Niger Delta, large infrastructure projects, oil communities, environmental health