19. Memorandum submitted by The Health
Protection Agency (HPA)
1. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is
an arm's length body sponsored by the Department of Health which
protects the health and well-being of the population. Health Protection
includes preventing and controlling infectious diseases, reducing
the adverse effects of chemical, microbiological and radiological
hazards and preparing for potential threats. The Health Protection
Agency's role is to provide an integrated approach to protecting
UK public health through the provision of services, support and
advice to the NHS, local authorities, emergency services, other
arms length bodies, the Department of Health and the Devolved
Administrations.
2. Health Protection requires close co-operation
and collaboration with many organisations outside the UK and the
HPA has considerable international links and expertise. Many HPA
staff are internationally renowned experts in their field and
often provide advice and consultancies for the World Health Organisation
and other international agencies. The HPA hosts many WHO Collaborating
Centres, WHO References Laboratories, EU funded research networks
and European public health infectious diseases networks. Three
HPA staff were requested by WHO for short-term secondments following
the tsunami in 2005. In addition, the HPA is a member of the WHO
Global Outbreak and Response Network which provides short-term
assistance to WHO teams dealing with outbreaks.
3. In response to the question is DFID
taking account of key threats to their humanitarian programme,
including HIV/AIDS, avian flu and climate change, the HPA
has a pool of expertise across a wide range of public health protection
areas which could be called upon to support DFID initiatives,
particularly in responding to humanitarian disasters. This expertise
could also contribute to UK developmental priorities, such as
the Millennium Developmental Goals. However the HPA as a UK body
is not funded for international work and has not been able to
draw upon DFID funding for international work.
4. The House of Lords Science and Technology
Committee published its report on pandemic influenza noted this
anomaly in that the HPA has to fund its international work out
of its "business as usual" budget and recommended that
"The Government should also make every effort to ensure that
the efforts of the United Kingdom departments and agencies in
both animal and human health are fully coordinated. We therefore
recommend that the Government review the current rules governing
funding of HPA activities overseas" (3.19 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldsctech/88/8802.htm).
5. The Government's response to this point,
in their report published on 16 February 2006, was that "there
are no rules preventing the funding of HPA activities overseas.
Indeed, the HPA already does such work, usually through UN agencies.
These activities can be financed through DFID where these form
part of projects agreed with national governments or international
agencies and subject to normal procurement rules. This ensures
that the UK response is well-coordinated with those of other donors
and international agencies." (www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/96/04129614.pdf).
6. There is considerable potential for the
UK contribution to the humanitarian response to natural disasters
to be strengthened by utilising the expertise available within
a wide range of UK government agencies and this has the advantage
of providing UK staff with experience which can inform and enhance
UK capabilities at home. To facilitate this, identified funding
to facilitate the contribution of UK agencies to UK international
humanitarian support for natural disasters should be made available.
This would avoid fragmentation of UK international efforts along
departmental lines. The House of Lords debate on the Report on
Pandemic Influenza on 20 January 2006 raised the issue of the
HPA having the expertise in pandemic influenza which could support
other countries, provided that suitable funding was directed to
the HPA for this purpose. Lord McColl of Dulwich said ".
. . the international pledging conference in Beijing has been
very successful in securing over $1 billion towards the problem.
Our Department of Health, which was present in Beijing, announced
that it would pledge £20 million over the next three years
to help prepare for a pandemic influenza outbreak. The £20
million of untied finance will come from the Department for International
Development. The statement went on to say that the UK could offer
a range of expertise and experience such as laboratory testing,
training, preparedness and planning, but that is exactly what
the Health Protection Agency has been doing. Will the Government
now channel some of the £20 million to that agency?"
(Hansard House of Lords 20 January 2006: Column 920).
May 2006
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