The Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging pregnant women and the parents of young children to book an appointment for the pertussis vaccine to help protect their children after a significant rise in cases of whooping cough. A highly contagious and sometimes serious bacterial infection, there have been 72 confirmed cases of whooping cough (pertussis) so far this year in Northern Ireland compared with just two between 2021 and 2023. Louise Flanagan, Consultant in Public Health at the PHA, said: “Whooping cough spreads very easily and can make babies and young children in particular very ill, and

Residents of South Belfast came together to meet over 30 health and wellbeing organisations at a Public Health Agency (PHA) funded event hosted by Forward South Partnership. The South Belfast Connections Event was held at Belvoir Activity Centre and offered an opportunity for local residents to meet with community, voluntary and statutory organisations to find out more about how they can be supported in all areas of health and wellbeing. People from communities across south Belfast benefitted from free health checks monitoring blood pressure and diabetes, to bike repairs and even hand massages

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is supporting the Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel by encouraging school pupils to get active on their school commute. Schools across the UK are getting ready to take part in the Big Walk and Wheel challenge, which helps support the work of the Active School Travel (AST) programme, funded by Public Health Agency (PHA) and Department for Infrastructure (DFI) to help more children get active on their journeys to and from school. Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel takes place from 11–22 March 2024 and there is still time for more schools to sign up. It aims to inspire pupils to

Ahead of International HPV Awareness Day [Monday 4 March], the Public Health Agency (PHA) is highlighting the importance of both vaccination and cervical screening to help drive down rates of HPV-related cancers. The HPV vaccine helps to prevent HPV-related cancers from developing in young people. It is a one dose programme which is offered to pupils in year 9 and given as an injection in the upper arm, the same way as many other vaccines. In Northern Ireland, cervical screening is available to women and other people with a cervix aged 25–64. This is the age group where screening is of most