Download or read book Public Health England written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-02-26 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report finds that Public Health England (PHE) has not yet shown that it is able to be an effective champion of the nation's public health interests. The Health Committee believes that Public Heath England was created by Parliament to provide a fearless and independent national voice for public health in England. It does not believe that this voice has yet been sufficiently clearly heard and that there is insufficient separation between PHE and the Department of Health. PHE can only succeed if it is clear beyond doubt that its public statements and policy positions are not influenced by Government policy or political considerations. The Committee noted, however, that the transition from the old public health arrangements and the creation of PHE was undertaken successfully. This included incorporating the functions of the Health Protection Agency into PHE. During the process of transition PHE operated a number of national public health awareness campaigns, managed the response to local measles outbreaks, and led the national measles vaccination catch-up programme. PHE is responsible for supporting the delivery by local authorities of the NHS Health Check programme to 15 million eligible people by 2018-19. The Committee believes that an analysis of the clinical and economic benefits of health checks should be fundamental to the promised research to assess their effectiveness. The report also looks forward to PHE establishing a clear set of policy priorities.