The Public Health Agency (PHA) has welcomed Junior Minister Gary Middleton and Health Minister Robin Swann to the Contact Tracing Centre (CTC) in County Hall, Ballymena. During the visit, both Ministers met many of the contact tracers who have been working to help keep the public safe throughout the pandemic, as well as meeting with Aidan Dawson, Chief Executive of the PHA, Andrew Dougal, Non-Executive Chair of the Board of the PHA and Dr Elizabeth Mitchell, Director of Contact Tracing. Aidan Dawson, Chief Executive of the PHA, said: “The public can still play a big part in helping to stop the

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is advising that people must continue to follow public health advice when in healthcare settings due to the increase in case numbers we are currently seeing across Northern Ireland. Rodney Morton, Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at the PHA, said: “As we move forward Trusts and health and care services begin to implement plans to reinstate face-to-face outpatient appointments, elective procedures and to offer inpatients the opportunity to have visitors, which is an important part of the patients health, wellbeing and recovery, but we must

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for extreme heat as hot conditions will continue across Northern Ireland this week. Information and advice is available on NI Direct https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/news/extreme-heat-warning-information-and-advice

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging everyone over the age of 18 who has not yet had their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to do so now, as it’s never been easier. Vaccine uptake is an important means of securing protection against COVID-19 infection. Currently over two million doses have been administered in Northern Ireland since the Department of Health launched the vaccination campaign at the end of 2020, helping to save lives and protect a great many others from serious illness. Maurice Meehan, Head of Health Improvement (Northern area) at the PHA, said: “Getting the vaccine has never

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is reminding anyone choosing to drink for this year’s Twelfth of July that despite it not being the same as other years, nothing has changed when it comes to alcohol. The main message is to keep an eye on your alcohol intake by making a plan of setting a sensible limit and sticking to it. Davis Turkington, Senior Health and Wellbeing Improvement Officer with the PHA, said : “Many will be making plans to celebrate the Twelfth and we are encouraging them to keep an eye on their alcohol intake should they choose to drink. “We understand that it has been a long 16

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging people to stick to key public health advice and exercise caution over the coming days and weeks, particularly with regards to social gatherings. The PHA is aware of a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases emanating from a number of social events in North Down and East Belfast attended by young people last week, but with cases likely to follow in the next few weeks in South Belfast, Hillsborough, Comber, Bangor and the Ards Peninsula through previous and new social links. The PHA is continuing to investigate the circumstances and deploy control measures to

An emotional health and wellbeing programme which has been enjoyed by over 20,000 primary school-aged children in Northern Ireland is this year celebrating its tenth anniversary. The Roots of Empathy programme, which is funded by the Public Health Agency (PHA) and co-ordinated by local health trusts, has been delivered to 306 schools and 22,990 children over the last decade. “Roots of Empathy has been very successful in Northern Ireland,” said Maurice Meehan, the PHA Head of Health and Social Wellbeing (Northern). “It is an evidence-based school programme and Queen’s University research of