Tags: PHE

PHE publishes alcohol evidence review

Public Health England (PHE) has today (2 December) published a comprehensive review of the evidence on alcohol harm and its impact in England. It examines alcohol’s health, social and economic impact, and the effectiveness of actions in reducing its harms. The review is also being published in The Lancet today.

Alcohol is now more affordable and people are drinking twice as much as they did 40 years ago. The economic burden of health, social and economic alcohol-related harm is substantial, with estimates placing the annual cost to be between 1.3% and 2.7% of annual GDP. Alcohol related deaths affect predominantly young and middle aged people; as a result alcohol is a leading cause of years of working life lost in England.

The review provides national and local policy makers with the latest evidence to identify those policies which will best prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm. It details policies that impact directly on the environment in which alcohol is sold and marketed, including its price, availability and advertising along with policies directed at people most at risk.

Read the public health burden of alcohol: evidence review

Read full PHE press release

e-Bugs new community hygiene course: Beat the Bugs

The e-Bug team from Public Health England has developed a new community hygiene course called “Beat the Bugs”.

The Beat the Bugs course is a 6-week community hygiene course which aims to increase awareness and change behaviour around hygiene and antibiotic use.

It comprises six fun, visual and interactive sessions, covering: an introduction to microbes, hand and respiratory hygiene, food hygiene, oral hygiene, antibiotics and a final session on self-care and action planning for the future.

The course is designed to be delivered by community groups for community groups and is suitable for a range of community groups including adults with learning difficulties, young mothers and younger audiences such as girl guides, scouts, youth groups, and after-school clubs.

View new e-Bugs website and download course

 

PHE: Screening newborns for muscle wasting condition not recommended

Newborn babies should not be screened for the muscle wasting condition Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, according to the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) . The current test available for the condition incorrectly identifies some babies as having the condition and misses others who go on to develop the disease.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an inherited condition which causes muscles to weaken. This gets worse over time and leads to increasing levels of disability. It is caused by faults in the genes responsible for muscle development and mainly affects boys. The symptoms may be noticed when a child has difficulty standing up, climbing or running. Between 100 to 200 boys with the condition are born in the UK each year.

Read full PHE press release

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 25 November 2016

PHE logo

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

  • Congratulations to four examples of “fabulous things” going on across PHE
  • Food Matters Live, a cross-sector event bringing together the food and drink industry, retailers and those working in nutrition to discuss food, health and how to tackle Britain’s obesity crisis
  • PHE has been chosen to co-host the 7th International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in 2018, in partnership with the International Society for Physical Activity and Health, the European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity and Sport England
  • National HIV Testing Week
  • new resource that pulls together the evidence on interventions to change risk behaviours and promote cognitive health in people aged 55 and above.
Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 25 November 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 18 November 2016

PHE logo

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

  • PHE Chair, David Heymann, will be leaving after eight years as Chair
  • launch of the new Physical Activity Strategy for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
  • in a recent bibliometric analysis spanning 30 years, PHE’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections (AMRHAI) Reference Unit has been named one of the most productive centres worldwide for publications relating to carbapenem resistance
  • the Local Government Association hosted ‘Our Day’ – a chance for local authorities to celebrate what they do in a typical day and for those that work with them to express appreciation for the hard work and dedication of those behind our public services
  • according to new analysis from PHE’s national cancer registration and analysis service and Cancer Research UK, Black African women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with late stage breast cancer as white women in England
  • Children and Young People’s Takeover Day
Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 18 November 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 11 November 2016

PHE logo

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

  • update from Sierra Leone where PHE staff are supporting the transition of three Ebola laboratories to a mainstream microbiology service
  • Tesco and Lucozade Ribena Suntory have announced plans to ensure that all their own brand sugary drinks are below the sugar threshold set by the forthcoming government levy
  • PHE and WHO joint conference on prisons and health in Copenhagen
  • Commissioning for Quality and Innovation indicators have been set for the next two years, with four of the 13 indicators focusing on prevention
  • publication of a ‘menu of interventions’, setting out evidenced actions that can improve people’s health, support quality improvement and save money for the NHS and the wider system over five years – they would welcome feedback
Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 11 November 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 4 November 2016

PHE logo

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

  • UK Public Health Rapid Support Team – launched on Tuesday, this specialist team of health experts will be ready to deployto tackle a health crisis anywhere in the world within 48 hours – where speed is key in dealing with public health  emergencies
  • Local Tobacco Control Profiles were updated
  • A number of updates to the Public Health Outcomes Framework
  • Improving Lives: Work, Health and Disability – a green paper that proposes a new plan to halve the disability  employment gap by 2020 including for those with long-term conditions
  • A recent paper published by PHE highlights some of the work of the police collaborating with health to improve outcomes for local people through innovation and collaboration
  • The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health recommends that every local area should have a suicide prevention plan in place by 2017 – and PHE has published guidance on this.
  • Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 4 November 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 28 October 2016

PHE logo

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

  • attendance at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) in Shanghai – where Duncan Selbie was elected to the Executive Board of IANPHI
  • decrease in the number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in England
  • Exercise Cygnus which was a vital exercise to test and ensure our systems across PHE, local government and the NHS are fully prepared for a future pandemic, which PHE took the lead in organising this
  • As part of the childhood obesity plan, the start of the first of food group roundtables with the food and drink industry to discuss targets
  • PHE’s Chief Nurse Directorate has been designated the first Nursing and Midwifery Public Health Collaborating Centre
  • PHE’s National Cancer Registration Service has been shortlisted for the 2016 Civil Service Awards.
Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 28 October 2016

PHE: Updated pertussis (whooping cough) factsheet for healthcare professionals

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 14 October 2016

PHE logo

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

  • Publication of a new report: Health and Wealth – Closing the Gap in the North East. The Prime Minister has said that inequality in healthy life expectancy is unacceptable and that she wants social and economic reform that will establish an ‘economy that works for everyone’. The PHE report sets out how the North East can lead the way on this. Health outcomes are stubbornly poor, the NHS and social care services are, by English standards, overused, and health  inequalities are far too great.  That’s why their first recommendation is that the entire system needs to shift its priority towards prevention.
  • Monday was World Mental Health Day, with a host of celebrities supporting a new anti-stigma campaign from NHS  England, the Department of Health and the YMCA.
  • PHE partnered with the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families to launch the first-ever resource to help schools and colleges in the UK to measure and monitor children and young people’s wellbeing.
  • Clara Swinson has been appointed Director General for Global and Public Health at the Department of Health.
Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 14 October 2016