The Public Health Agency (PHA) is leading a review on support for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and is asking for views on the services they use. The survey will ask parents and carers what their opinions and experiences are on Allied Health Professions (AHP) support services for children with a statement of special educational needs.

Being empowered to improve your health now can give you a better quality of life as you get older. That’s the message from the Public Health Agency’s (PHA) sixth annual Director of Public Health report. The theme of the report is ‘Making Life Better – Improving Health and Care for Adults’ and it highlights how empowering adults to take control of their wellbeing can reduce health inequalities in our society.

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is reminding all people aged 70, 78 and 79 years old that they are still able to receive the shingles vaccine. The vaccine will help protect them against the common and painful skin disease and its complications. However, with just over half of people eligible for the jab actually choosing to receive it, time is running out before their age moves them out of the target groups, which turn over on 1 September each year.

Accidents are the main cause of death for children post-infancy, with many occurring in the home. During Child Safety Week (01- 07 June) the Public Health Agency (PHA) is supporting the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) by raising awareness of accidents that can happen in the home. The focus for this year is on ‘tea-time terrors’ and the accidents that can happen at this time of day when pressures are at their peak.

Funding from the Public Health Agency’s (PHA) HSC R&D Division has supported research carried out by the winner of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Northern Ireland 2015 Nurse of the Year Award and the Nursing Research Award. In its nineteenth year, the RCN awards took place at the Culloden Hotel, Holywood on 21 May 2015.

The Public Health Agency (PHA), in conjunction with the Education Authority, has installed smoke free signs at the school gates of over 100 primary schools in the South Eastern region to encourage parents and guardians to stub it out and help protect their children from the harmful effects of smoking. Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable illness, premature death and health inequality throughout Northern Ireland. This initiative aims to encourage adults not to smoke near schools gates in order to: