Accordingly a process has been set in motion to help the competent authorities such as the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service (GHS), and the Ghanian government develop the technical and managerial skills necessary to carry out a Health Impact Assessment and to lay the foundations for the necessary policy in the Oil&Gas sector.

Based on the experience gained in the field and the international working groups involved, eni has participated in the implementation of the first phase of the process which included:

• the training of 19 professionals involved in the Oil&Gas and Natural Resources sector (including the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, universities, the respective Ministries for Energy, Health and Work, and the Petroleum Commission);
• the delivery of an HSE Master’s Degree course coordinated by eni with the University of Pisa;
• the creation of a multi-sector Core Team with 8 members specialized in various disciplines (epidemiology, toxicology, occupational health, public health, etc.)
• the preparation of a programming document which will facilitate the assessments of potential health impacts and the relative monitoring activities; this activity will take place in the second phase and preparations by the Ghanian authorities are currently underway.

Ecuador>

In Ecuador eni operates in Block 10, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon Forest where approximately 3,200 people live in various communities.