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Following alerts about the diminishing role of health risk assessment (HRA) in informing public health decisions, this study examines specific HRA topics with the aim of identifying possible solutions for addressing this compelling situation. The study administered a survey among different groups of stakeholders involved in HRA or decision-making, or both. The responses show various understandings of HRA in the decision-making context-including confusion with the health impact assessment (HIA)-and confirm recurring foundational issues within the risk analysis field that contribute to the growth of inconsistency in the HRA praxis. This inconsistency lowers the effectiveness of HRA to perform its primary purpose of informing public health decisions. Opportunities for improving this situation come at the beginning of the assessment process, where greater attention should be given to defining the assessment and decision-making contexts. Both must reflect the concerns and expectations of the stakeholders regarding the needs and purpose of an HRA on one side, and the methodological and procedural topics relevant for the decision case at hand on the other. The HRA process should end with a decision follow-up step with targeted auditing and the participation of stakeholders to measure its success.

Objectives: The aims of this audit were twofold: (1) to demonstrate the contribution of the auditing process in evaluating the success of child and adolescent health policy in Slovenia between 2012 and 2019, and (2) to expand on the commentary published in the International Journal of Public Health in 2019 to demonstrate the benefits of auditing in improving public health policy in general., Methods: The audit followed health, safety and environmental approaches as per the standards of public health policy., Results: Due to poor intersectoral coordination and weak associations between environmental and health indicators, no clear evidence could be established that child and adolescent health policy contributed to positive changes in child and adolescent health from 2012 to 2019., Conclusions: Auditing should become an essential component of measuring the success of public health policies. Attention should also be paid to the following issues affecting youth health: sleeping and eating habits, economic migration, poverty, etc.