PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 31 March 2017

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

publication of baseline data and guidelines for industry to remove 20% of sugar by 2020 in foods most popular with children as part of PHE’s sugar reduction programme. The programme allows as much flexibility as possible for businesses, setting out the three approaches to sugar reduction: reformulation, making portions smaller or encouraging consumers to buy lower or no sugar products in their portfolio.
Obesity is the subject of this month’s edition of Health Matters, and focuses on what can be done to improve the food environment so that the healthier choice becomes the default. Do share the infographics, slide set, case studies, video and blogs with colleagues.
Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View, sets out what has been achieved so far by NHS England, PHE and national and local partners and outlines the work plan for the next two years.
encouraging that, for the first time, clear deadlines are being set for all parts of the health service to become tobacco free: in 2017/18 all mental health trusts will become smoke-free, expanding to all acute trusts the following year, leading to all NHS estates becoming smoke-free by 2019/20.
Launch of a new website, Doing the Right Thing, a joint initiative between the Richmond Group, which comprises 14 of the leading health and social care charities, PHE and the mental health charity Mind.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 31 March 2017

PHE: Guidelines on reducing sugar in food published for industry

Public Health England (PHE) has published the technical guidelines setting out the approaches the food industry can take to reduce the amount of sugar children consume through the everyday foods that contribute the most to intakes.

The guidelines include the recommended sugar limits for 9 food groups including biscuits, breakfast cereals and yogurt. Also published is the 2015 baseline.

The 9 food categories in the programme are:

breakfast cereals
yogurts
biscuits
cakes
morning goods like croissants
puddings
ice creams, lollies and sorbets
confectionery (chocolate and sweet)
sweet spreads, which is sub-categorised into:
- chocolate spread
- peanut butter
- dessert toppings and sauces
- fruit spreads

Sub-categories have been introduced due to the wide range of different products included in the sweet spreads category.

Encouraging the industry to innovate to lower children’s sugar intakes means the programme will be good for health and good for business.

One of the main commitments in the Government’s Childhood obesity: a plan for action was to reduce the amount of sugar contained in food. The challenge is to reduce sugar by 5% by August 2017 and overall by 20% by 2020.

The 3 approaches the food industry can take to reduce sugar are:

reformulating products to lower the levels of sugar present
reducing the portion size, and/or the number of calories in single-serve products
shifting consumer purchasing towards lower or no added sugar products

PHE will judge the success of the sugar reduction programme by measuring the net amount of sugar removed from key food categories. The principles are to encourage the industry to go further and faster in sugar reduction in order to improve health outcomes, but also to give it flexibility in how it meets the Government’s challenge.

Read full PHE press release

LGA report: Health and wellbeing in rural areas

This report from the Local Government Association (LGA), produced in partnership with Public Health England, highlights the specific needs and challenges for health and care provision in rural communities. The report includes case studies showcasing the ways in which local authorities in England are tackling health inequalities, improving access to services and building up community resilience.

Read LGA report: Health and wellbeing in rural areas

PHE: New survey of mums reveals perceived barriers to breastfeeding

The proportion of new mothers who are still breastfeeding after 2 months drops by 40%, according to data from PHE and NHS England.

Almost three-quarters of women start breastfeeding when their child is born, but this drops to 44% within 6 to 8 weeks. However, evidence shows the right support helps mums to breastfeed for longer. Public Health England (PHE) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months.

A new survey of 500 mothers of young children commissioned by PHE showed that more than half were concerned that breastfeeding could mean they wouldn’t be able to tell if their baby was getting too much or not enough milk. A similar proportion of mums surveyed thought that people might assume they need a special diet to breastfeed. Nearly 3 in 10 worried that breastfeeding could mean their baby might not be getting the right nutrients, indicating why mothers may stop breastfeeding at this early point.

Start4Life, PHE’s marketing programme that helps parents-to-be and parents to adopt healthy behaviours, has launched a new interactive Breastfeeding Friend (BFF) ChatBot. The BFF is accessed through Facebook messenger and provides personal support for mothers at any time of the day or night to help make breastfeeding a better experience.

To access the Breastfeeding BFF, simply open Facebook Messenger and search Start4Life BreastFeeding Friend or visit m.me/Start4LifeBreastFeedingFriend to get started.

Read full PHE press release

Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit updated by PHE

PHE has updated the Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help clinical dental teams support patients in making choices to improve and maintain their dental and general health.

The information has been revised to reflect new healthy eating advice based on the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s evidence review and the Chief Medical Officer for England’s new guidelines on lower risk drinking. The alcohol section is supported by a new online training module for the knowledge and skills to deliver brief advice on alcohol consumption.

There are also new factsheets aimed at patients, summarising the key actions for oral health improvement in adults and children.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE commented:

“Health visitors should be aware of, utilise and share this wonderful new toolkit to improve dental health.”

Go to updated PHE Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit and new factsheets

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 24 March 2017

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

Professor David Heymann, Chair of PHE, convened his final board meeting this week as he comes to the end of his term of office
Today is World TB Day – in England we have seen tuberculosis (TB) cases drop by a third over the past four years
The use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify different strains of TB faster and more accurately
The launch of a new interactive Facebook messenger ChatBot, Breastfeeding Friend (BFF), offering personal support at any time of the day or night – to support mums to breastfeed for longer
PHE and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are piloting a new national system to help record and monitor the harmful effects of NPS (new psychoactive substances), allowing experts to analyse the information and identify patterns of symptoms and harms
The Government Science and Engineering profession strategy.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 24 March 2017

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 17 March 2017

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

Alongside new figures published by the Office for National Statistics today showing suicide prevalence in England by occupation, PHE has developed a new guide for employers on suicide prevention in partnership with the Samaritans and Business in the Community, published today, to be used in conjunction with the PHE-BITC Mental Health Toolkit for Employers
Publication of the first update on the Everybody Active, Every Day national framework for increasing physical activity
Publication of PHE’s Hepatitis C in England 2017 report
Advisory board for the #I will campaign, which aims to make social action part of life for all young people by 2020
The four Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) based at Imperial College showcased their progress and achievements
The Respiratory HPRU team has been awarded a Medical Research Council grant to conduct phase 1 studies in humans of new interventions for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
A thank you to PHE’s scientists who have been offering interactive workshops to primary and secondary schools in Harlow this week, encouraging children to think about science as a future career as part of British Science Week.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 17 March 2017

PHE Guidance – Unintentional injuries: prevention in children under 5 years

This guidance, produced in association with the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), is for all staff working with children under 5 years and covers the 5 injury priorities:

choking, suffocation and strangulation
falls
burns and scalds
poisoning
drowning

The guidance also covers fire and roads.

Each injury priority includes data for England, actions for health professionals and safety messages for parents and carers.

Go to PHE Guidance - Unintentional injuries: prevention in children under 5 years

PHE: Child Health Profiles 2017

The 2017 Child Health Profiles, produced by Public Health England (PHE), were released on Tuesday 7 March 2017.

The profiles draw together information to present a picture of the health of children and young people in each local area in a user-friendly format. They provide a snapshot of child .health and wellbeing for each local authority in England using key health indicators which enable comparison locally, regionally and nationally. They are a valuable tool for local government and health services in helping them to understand the needs of their community, so that they can work to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people and reduce health inequalities.

There is a four-page profile for each local authority in England which includes:

An ‘At a glance’ summary description of child health in the area which highlights key findings
Maps and charts showing how the health of the area compares to the national view and other local authorities in England
A ‘spine chart’ health summary showing the difference in health between the area and the England average for 32 indicators within the five domains of the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Go to PHE 2017 Child Health Profiles

PHE: Screening tests for you and your baby

This updated document explains screening tests offered during and after pregnancy – it sets out the antenatal and newborn screening programmes.

It is available in English and 12 other languages:

Arabic
Bengali
Chinese (simplified)
French
Latvian
Lithuanian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Somali
Urdu

This booklet gives information to parents on the screening tests that are offered during pregnancy and after baby is born. It explains the different types of test and what the tests are looking for.

Easy read versions of the booklet for people with learning disabilities are also available to download.

Go to PHE Screening test for you and your baby