People living in Northern Ireland are being urged to help in the search for a vaccine for COVID-19, by signing up to the NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry. The new vaccine research registry will help large numbers of people to be recruited into trials over the coming months, potentially leading to an effective vaccine being identified and made available to the UK public against coronavirus sooner. It has been developed as part of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce, in partnership with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), NHS Digital, and the Northern Ireland, Scottish and

An analysis of COVID-19 clusters across Northern Ireland by the Public Health Agency (PHA) has shown that they are occurring in both workplaces and communities. Since 25 th May 2020, when the contact tracing pilot ended and the full test and trace programme went live, 23 clusters have been identified in total, 11 of which remain open. 168 cases of COVID-19 have been associated with these clusters. Nine clusters have had five or more cases associated with them. A cluster is currently defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among individuals associated with a key setting

From today service users, families and carers will have the opportunity to share their experience of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSC) through an online user feedback platform called Care Opinion. Care Opinion is an independent non-profit feedback platform for HSC, supported by Department of Health and implemented by the Public Health Agency (PHA), which will enable users, and their families, to give feedback on their care and share their stories with others. The Health Minister said: "Care Opinion is an important tool that will help us deliver enhancements but for it to work as

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is looking forward to taking part in the virtual Pride Parade on Saturday 1 August to mark the end of Belfast Pride week. Fiona Teague Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing lead in the PHA, said: “PHA is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community and we want to take the opportunity to highlight and celebrate the organisations that are doing great work, supporting the health and wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community, which receive funding from the PHA. “Research has shown that overall, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and/ or transgender community are more likely to

Rainbow Rooms have been introduced across Care Homes in Northern Ireland to help and support staff who have done so much for our loved ones during the pandemic. The Rainbow Rooms idea was adopted from the rainbow symbol of solidarity used by the NHS/HSC during the current pandemic. The rooms will provide some much needed space and quiet time for staff during difficult periods resulting from the pandemic. Rainbow Room resource boxes will be delivered to each of the 483 care homes across Northern Ireland over the coming weeks and are filled with information and advice on health and wellbeing

Northern Ireland is well placed to meet the World Health Organisation goal of eliminating hepatitis B and C by 2030 – that’s the message from the Public Health Agency (PHA) today on World Hepatitis Day. One of the main ways of reaching this goal is making people aware of the risks of contracting the viruses and encouraging anyone who thinks they may be at risk of having contracted hepatitis to get tested and seek treatment. Dr Gillian Armstrong, Consultant in Health Protection at the PHA, said: “Hepatitis B and C can be serious, potentially life-threatening infections. “There are many people