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

• the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) annual conference in Rome – IANPHI has over 100 national public health institutes and agencies in membership and this summer they undertook a peer review of PHE
• PHE’s English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance published its fourth annual report, explaining that between 2012 and 2016, antibiotic prescribing reduced by 5%, with a notable reduction in general practice of 13%.
• PHE’s annual TB report was published on Tuesday, showing that cases of tuberculosis in England are continuing to decline
• new cancer data, the first of its kind in the world, was published which links stage of cancer diagnosis and treatment for individual patients. PHE and Cancer Research UK worked together to examine data from about half a million patients with 22 different cancer types.his data is the most comprehensive of its kind about treatment and survival patterns and reinforces the importance of early diagnosis and screening.
• PHE contributed to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Arts, health and Wellbeing
• The disability charity Scope has launched a new campaign called Work With Me.
• NHS Providers, the representative body of hospitals and mental health services, published a report called Public Health: Everyone’s Business, which includes 12 different viewpoints, all concerned with promoting prevention and early intervention.
• Dr Andrew Furber will be joining PHE in January as their new Centre Director for Yorkshire and Humber.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 27 October 2017

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

• PHE’s annual accountability review with Steve Brine MP, Minister for Public Health and Primary Care – which covered a broad range of priorities, from local impact to national and international responsibilities.
• Fourth annual North of England inequalities conference, Due North, for a day of powerful and optimistic conversations
• Update on Duncan Selbie’s visit programme around England
• Publication of a new local authority public health dashboard, aimed at supporting local politicians and senior council officers in their decision making on a range of public health responsibilities. The areas covered include the best start in life, child obesity, drug and alcohol treatment, NHS Health Checks, sexual health services and tobacco control.
• On Monday, PHE will be launching their first public information campaign on the safe and effective use of antibiotics, called Keep Antibiotics Working. This campaign was piloted to great effect in the North West of England and the learning from this has informed the national roll out.
•  a new report from Swim England’s Swimming and Health Commission, promoting the good swimming does and the opportunities it presents for all people, especially young people, to learn about what makes for success in life, including goal setting, coping with stress and social interaction.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 20 October 2017

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

• launch of PHE’s Stay Well This Winter programme, which is all about people staying well and not needing to visit their GP or hospitals because of common winter illnesses
• On Tuesday, World Mental Health Day, a new programme was announced by the Department of Health and PHE which will see one million people trained in basic mental health “first aid” skills. The programme aims to improve people’s ability to look after their own mental health and also know how to respond to and support people who are experiencing a mental health problem.
• Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are the leading cause of poor health for both men and women. The evidence to support cost-effective interventions is certainly strong, and to support NHS commissioners in acting on this PHE has created a new return on investment tool which tailors results to local areas.
• The Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support charity has taken a lead on AIDS prevention and they have created a video series called Positive Faith. This programme, funded by PHE’s HIV Innovation Fund and sponsored by Jim McManus, Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire, is a fabulous, pragmatic expression of faith being about life and in this case people living with HIV.
• Summit on policing and public health where PHE discussed their shared aim of intervening early to address the common factors that bring people into contact with the police and criminal justice system and ultimately poor outcomes throughout life.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 13 October 2017

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

• The Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) describes mortality and morbidity from major diseases, injuries and risk factors to health and crucially can be used to compare health at global, national and regional levels – this has underpinned the publication this year of the first Health Profile for England. The profile lays out that in England, some people enjoy the best health in the world in certain geographies, yet in others people die before their time and spend more years in ill health. The data in the GBD study and that in the health profile allows PHE to focus energies on the right priorities, including cardiovascular disease, air quality, mental health and health and work.
• The World Health Organisation said that the elimination of measles has been achieved for the first time in the UK, just a week after it was announced that England had achieved the target of 95% of children getting their mumps, measles and rubella vaccine by their fifth birthday.
• PHE has published its marketing Strategy for the next three years, setting out priorities and how new technologies are helping to reach people in increasingly meaningful and relevant ways.
• PHE attendance at the New Scientist Live festival of science in London.
• With NHS England, PHE is focusing on preventing cardiovascular disease, and has published their Cardiovascular Disease Action Plan.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 29 September 2017

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

• Launch of Stoptober 2017 campaign – encouraging smokers to quit smoking for 28 days as they are then 5 times more likely to quit for good.
•  Publication of the latest vaccination figures show that coverage for 1 dose of MMR at five years has for the first time reached the World Health Organisation target of 95%. We must continue to get the message across to parents that this is the best protection that they can obtain for their children against what remains life threatening conditions in many countries. Lest we forget, vaccination comes only second to clean water as the most effective public health intervention in the world.
•  Know Your Number! Week the UK’s biggest blood pressure testing and awareness event. Run by Blood Pressure UK and supported by PHE, this year’s theme is Stop Stroke. High blood pressure is responsible for approximately 60% of strokes and the number of strokes among younger adults is increasing.
• Chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone separates fact from fiction in her latest blog – Clearing up confusion caused by flip-flopping diet news.
• The number of cancers being diagnosed as an emergency presentation fell from 24% in 2006 to 20% in 2014 according to the 4th update of our Routes to Diagnosis project, a key part of England’s efforts to improve cancer survival.
• The It Starts with Me campaign, developed by the Terrence Higgins Trust and commissioned by PHE to cut new HIV infections, swept the board at the British Medical Association Patient Information Awards this week winning the resource of the year award and innovation category.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 22 September 2017

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

• overview of PHE annual conference this week which brought together over 1500 people. The three themes were addressing inequalities, promoting world-leading science and the economics of prevention.
• new PHE data which shows that liver disease, an almost entirely preventable illness, is now the fourth most common cause of years of life lost in people aged under 75 after heart disease and lung cancer.
• publication of a new Health Economics Evidence Resource, which pulls together the best available cost-effectiveness and return on investment evidence, initially focused on the areas of the public health grant.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 15 September 2017

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

• PHE staff training activity
• PHE staff survey – running in October
• publication of new analysis from PHE’s Heart Age Test, and the data shows that 1 in 10 men aged 50 have a heart age 10 years older than they are
• PHE signed an accord with National Parks England which will see more proactive and practical work between the two organisations to make the most of the opportunities for the public to go and enjoy natural beauty and time outdoors
• The National Poisons Information service, commissioned by PHE, published its annual report, which lays out the ways the service is used, who by and the impact it has
• publication of three blogs ahead of the PHE annual conference which is taking place next week. This year the conference focuses on three key themes: addressing health inequalities, promoting world leading science and making the economic case for prevention.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 8 September 2017

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

• last year we saw the biggest drop in smoking among adults in a decade
• public understanding and engagement catching up with evidence,
• an article on the relationship between evidence and policy making
• launch of a consultation on a strategy for London
•  launch of Active 10, a new physical activity campaign, urging people to do at least one brisk 10 minute walk a day
•  PHE has worked with the Department of Communities and Local Government to provide guidance on creating healthier food environments.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 25 August 2017