The new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has today been formally
established with Dr Jenny Harries starting her first day as the
Chief Executive of the new agency.
- The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), led by Dr Jenny
Harries, launches today
- Health and Social Care Secretary and UKHSA Chief Executive Dr
Jenny Harries will visit Colindale laboratories to mark the
occasion
- UK provides £4 million to the World Health Organization’s
Contingency Fund for Emergencies
Dr Harries and the Health and Social Care Secretary, , will visit Colindale, north London, to see the work
being done to help the UK understand and respond to new variants
of the virus causing COVID-19. These laboratories, which have
been operating throughout the pandemic under Public Health
England (PHE)
leadership will transfer to the new UKHSA.
The new agency will work to protect the country from future
health threats and ensure the nation can respond to pandemics
quickly and at greater scale.
It will also work with global partners, becoming a mainstay of
what the Prime Minister and other international leaders have
called “a more robust international health architecture that will
protect future generations.”
The UK has also confirmed a £4 million contribution to the World
Health Organization’s (WHO) Contingency Fund for
Emergencies (CFE). The purpose of
the CFE is
to give WHO the
resources to quickly mount an effective response to disease
outbreaks and humanitarian crises in developing countries and
stop these health emergencies from spiralling out of control,
saving lives.
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
This is an important day as we launch the UK Health Security
Agency to ensure that we protect the public and prepare for the
next pandemic. The team working at UKHSA, expertly led by Dr
Jenny Harries, will spend every day focussed on the current and
future health threats facing our country so we are always ready
for whatever is on the horizon.
Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive, UKHSA said:
It is a significant moment as the work of the UK Health Security
Agency begins with a specific focus on pandemics and public
health threats. We have learned so much from responding to
COVID-19 and this is a brilliant opportunity to ensure these
lessons can be applied in the future, with the scale and capacity
needed to save lives and protect the public.
There is work to do right away as we continue our fight against
COVID-19, even with the success of our vaccine programme so far,
and the tentative steps we have made on the roadmap to return to
normality. UKHSA
will work with our regional, national and global partners to
tackle this virus while ensuring we are ready to face future
health challenges.
The primary focus for UKHSA in its initial phase of
operation will be the continued fight against the COVID-19
pandemic.
It will bring together the country’s cutting-edge health security
science capabilities, data analytics and genomic surveillance
with at scale testing and contact tracing capability – combining
key elements of Public Health England with NHS Test and Trace
including the Joint Biosecurity Centre.
Formally established in April 2021, UKHSA will be chaired by Ian
Peters, currently Chair of Barts Health NHS Trust and former
Chief Executive of British Gas, Managing Director of NatWest
Small Business Services, and chairman of several data driven
growth technology companies.
Background information
The agency will lead on health protection and security activity
for England, and will also take over from the PHE and NHS Test and Trace work
those organisations already carry out on a UK basis, either as
reserved functions or under collaborative arrangements with the
Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland administrations – for
example, the Joint Biosecurity Centre. It will not replace the
public health agencies in the other 3 UK countries, but will
operate a close collaborative relationship with them.
Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace will continue to
operate during the transition to UKHSA.
