T he Public Health Agency (PHA) has identified ways of delivering cardiovascular services that will help to tackle health inequalities. These are described in a new “health impact assessment” report, launched on 1 June at the Maureen Sheehan Centre, Belfast.

The Public Health Agency’s commitment to giving every child the best start is off to a good start. The issue of the “real brain drain” in the 0–3 year age group has attracted attention from around 250 individuals and organisations attending the PHA Early Years Interventions conference taking place on Tuesday 31 May 2011 at the Octagon, King’s Hall, Balmoral.

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is taking the opportunity to highlight this year’s World No Tobacco Day which takes place on Tuesday 31 May. In Northern Ireland, around 340,000 people aged 16 and over smoke. Smoking contributes not only to many cancers, heart disease, bronchitis and asthma, but to other illnesses, including stroke. In fact, smoking causes around 2,700 deaths per year here, all of them avoidable. The PHA is committed to saving lives by reducing the percentage of people who smoke. The PHA:

The Public Health Agency (PHA) has been made aware that Germany is currently experiencing a large outbreak of Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) directly related to infections of verocytoxin – producing E. coli (VTEC). Since the second week of May, there have been reports of approximately 214 cases of HUS with two deaths being reported.