COVID-19: Government launches new UK agency to tackle future health threats

In response to the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced the launch of a new national agency, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), to address any future external health threats.

The primary focus for the UKHSA in its initial phase of operation will be the continued fight against COVID-19.

The UKHSA, will be the UK leader for health security, providing intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage. It will ensure the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to deal with pandemics and future threats.

The UKHSA will be led by Dr Jenny Harries who has previously served on the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation and played central roles in the UK’s response to COVID, Ebola, Zika, monkeypox, MERS and the Novichok attacks.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said: “The UKHSA will be this country’s permanent standing capacity to plan, prevent and respond to external threats to health. It will bring together our capabilities from the scientific excellence embodied by the likes of Dr Susan Hopkins and her amazing colleagues in clinical public health.

“Dr Jenny Harries brings huge local, regional and national experience to the role and is perfectly placed to help us not only learn lessons from the Covid-19 response, but to keep us in a state of readiness, primed to respond to infectious diseases and other external health threats.

“I want everybody at UKHSA, at all levels, to wake up every day with a zeal to plan for the next pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the world-leading capabilities of the country’s public health science, and it has also shown the challenges of protecting the nation’s health are changing at an unprecedented pace, as new types of threats emerge.”

The UKHSA will bring together the country’s cutting-edge capabilities in data analytics and genomic surveillance with scale testing and contact tracing capability combining key elements of Public Health England with the Joint Biosecurity Centre, and NHS Test and Trace.

Dr Harries will leave her role as deputy chief medical officer for England in April to become UKHSA chief executive.

'The UKHSA will be agile in its mission to rapidly identify and respond to new threats'

Dr Harries said: “The pandemic has put the UK’s health security capabilities in sharp focus and the UKHSA will change the way we approach health protection.

“With the creation of the UKHSA, we have an unprecedented opportunity to build on the scientific and operational strength that has been developed, learn from the past and further develop strong bonds with health protection leadership from global to local, to ensure we are ready for the challenges of the future."

"The UKHSA will be agile in its responses, maximise the benefits of high-quality data, be relentless in its mission to rapidly identify and respond to new threats whilst working seamlessly with academia, scientists, industry and local communities.

“In starting this important work, I want to pay tribute to the commitment and professionalism of all those colleagues who have worked so hard in NHS Track and Trace, in Public Health England and in the Joint Biosecurity Centre. I look forward to building a diverse, dynamic and dedicated world-leading health security agency with them.”

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board would like to see the UKHSA be aligned with the local council's ability to react swiftly on the ground, using their local knowledge, expertise and skills.

Cllr Hudspeth said: “Public health teams in councils have been at the forefront of the tremendous local response to the pandemic and we look forward to working with the new UK Health Security Agency.

“We have learnt that responding to and recovering from an outbreak of this scale should start at the local level, working closely with national agencies.

“It is vitally important that we clearly define the role and accountability of each, as well as devolve more leadership, control and resources to councils.

“Health inequalities between the most and least deprived have been exacerbated by the pandemic, so any future model for health protection needs to be intrinsically linked with health improvement if we are to realise real improvements for our residents.”