Ensayo sobre uk agencia de proteccion de la salud

Fundamentals of Global Health

UK Health Protection Agency By Jason Kennedy Introduction The UK equivalent of the Taiwan Center for Disease Control (CDC) is the Health Protection Agency (HPA).1 The HPA was established initially as an NHS special authority in 2003, and on 1, April 2005 became an executive non-departmental public body, replacing the HPA SpHA and the National RadiologicalProtection Board (NRPB).2 The HPA is funded primarily by the central government. 3 Its function is "to protect the community (or any part of the community) against infectious diseases and other dangers to health." 4 To accomplish this, the HPA combines public health and scientific knowledge, research and emergency planning within one organization – and works at international, national, regional and locallevels. The HPA identifies and responds to health hazards and emergencies caused by infectious disease, hazardous chemicals, poisons or radiation. It also organizes public health campaigns, both promotional and preventive, to inform the public of how to stay healthy and avoid health hazards. Lastly, the HPA provides data and information to government to help inform its decision making, and advisespeople working in healthcare. In practice, then, the HPA’s role is “to provide an integrated approach to protecting UK public health through the provision of support and advice to the NHS, local authorities, emergency services, other bodies, the Department of Health and the devolved administrations.”5 The remainder of this paper is divided into two sections. In the first, the organizationalstructure of the HPA is presented, while in the second section, a recent report, Tuberculosis in the UK, is cited, as a practical means of demonstrating how information is gathered, analyzed, and combined for final presentation to health professionals and other stakeholders.

Organizational Structure The HPA organizational structure has three levels: national, regional, and local. National level Thetop level of the HPA consists of a central office, located in London, and four divisions that provide a range of specific services (Table 1). Table 1. HPA divisions and their remits Division HPA Porton Remit  Microbiology services (incl. for high containment pathogens)     HPA Colindale   Public health research Disaster preparedness New and emerging diseases Culture collectionsMicrobiology services Health Protection services: Epidemiology & Surveillance Outbreak investigation Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards  Research and services to protect public from hazards relating to chemicals, and

poisons, ultrasound  

radiation,

infrasound

Public health impact of climate change Planning for extreme events

National Institute for BiologicalStandards and Controls

 

Quality assurance of biological medicines Distribution of WHO International

standards to benchmark product quality

Regional level England1 has nine regional offices, with each one providing support for two to four Health Protection Units, which constitute the local level. Each office has a director and a regional management team, along with specialists inepidemiology, emergency planning, communications, etc. In the event of a serious incident, the office can coordinate the response of the HPUs in its region. In addition, there is a laboratory network, spread strategically throughout England, which Health Protection Units can draw upon. These laboratories are divided into two types2: Clinical and Public Health Laboratories of this type provide a clinical andpublic health diagnostic microbiology service, as well as microbiology services for purposes of health protection. In every case, these services include laboratory analysis, expert advice and surge capacity. Food, Water and Environment Food, Water and Environmental laboratories offer specialist microbiology services. This work provides essential support in, for example, the investigation of...