Vaccination coverage refers to the number of people who receive vaccines as part of different immunisation programmes. These programmes help protect individuals and communities from serious disease.
Vaccination programmes include:
Over the past many years, there have been impressive social economic and health improvements in Northern Ireland. People from every class and region are healthier and living longer than ever before. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to share the benefits of these improvements. It is essential that everyone is empowered and encouraged to do so.
Health inequalities are unacceptable. Tackling health inequalities is one of the top priority areas for the health protection service and is focused on:
The Blood Borne Virus/STI team
The blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) team is responsible for surveillance and control activities for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections. As these are all largely preventable by avoiding risks, and in the case of hepatitis B, by vaccination, we work with a wide range of partners to reduce the numbers of people infected and ensure good treatment.
Public health surveillance is the continuous process of collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and the subsequent dissemination of this information to policy makers, healthcare and other professionals.
The remit of the gastroenteritis and port health team extends to the following areas:
The use of antibiotics (and other antimicrobial agents) can lead to disease-causing bacteria developing resistance, making it more difficult to treat patients’ infections. These resistant organisms can spread from person to person, with the potential to cause serious and difficult-to-treat infections.
The PHA's Business Plan sets out the key priorities and actions that will be progressed by the Public Health Agency (PHA) in each given financial year. The PHA believes that these actions will have the biggest impact on improving levels of health and social wellbeing, protecting the health of the community, and ensuring patients continue to receive high quality and safe treatment and care services. The last four business plans are available via the links below.