National Institute for Health Protection launched to strengthen fight against COVID-19
The National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) started work this week, bringing together Public Health England (PHE) and NHS Test and Trace as well as the analytical capability of the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) under a single leadership team to strengthen the response to the pandemic.
The NIHP, which will be fully operating from next spring, will be focused on tackling COVID-19 and protecting the nation’s health. It will support local directors of public health and local authorities on the front line of the pandemic response.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “To give ourselves the best chance of beating this virus once and for all – and of spotting and being ready to respond to other health threats, now and in the future – we are creating a brand new organisation to provide a new approach to public health protection and resilience.
“The National Institute for Health Protection will bring together the expertise of PHE with the enormous response capabilities of NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre to put us in the best possible position for the next stage of the fight against COVID-19 and for the long term.
“I want to thank all my brilliant colleagues at Public Health England, the NHS, the Joint Biosecurity Centre, local directors of public health and their teams, contact tracers, diagnostics experts, epidemiologists, infection control teams, and every single person who has contributed to the national effort to get this deadly pandemic under control over the last eight months.”
The NIHP will be a new organisation whose primary focus is to ensure we have the best capability to control infectious disease and deal with pandemics or health protection crises. It will take on existing UK-wide responsibilities and it will work with local government, the NHS and the devolved administrations to ensure we have the strongest possible health protection system for the whole of the UK. It will build on the existing strong working relationships between the four nations of the UK, including on data-sharing, alert levels and border issues.
Baroness Dido Harding, Interim Executive Chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “PHE has worked incredibly well with NHS Test and Trace, and with winter ahead, the life-saving work we are doing is more important than ever.
“The changes announced today are designed to strengthen our response, and to radically ramp up our fight against this disease, whilst also protecting PHE’s essential work beyond COVID that is so important for the nation’s health.”
