Building national public health capacity for managing chemical events: A case study of the development of health protection services in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The revised International Health Regulations (2005) require that countries develop plans for chemical threats. In 2012, the World Health Assembly reported that most countries had not yet achieved ‘adequate capacity'. We review the evolution of chemical hazards services in the United Kingdom, the result of 15 years of grass-roots pressure and an accumulating weight of chemical incidents that eventually convinced the UK Department of Health of the need for a new national public health function, culminating, in 2003, in the creation of the Chemical Hazards Division of the new Health Protection Agency. Ten years later, public health services are again being radically reorganized with the creation of Public Health England, potentially destabilizing health protection arrangements and creating confusion among roles in managing chemical emergencies. Incorporating health protection into a broader public health organization, however, offers a new opportunity to broaden the scope of health protection services to embrace prevention of non-infectious environmental diseases.

Impact of a Large Fire and Subsequent Pollution Control Failure at a Coke Works on Acute Asthma Exacerbations in Nearby Adult Residents

“…Moreover, a comprehensive rapid response system should be put in place to quickly assess immediate health effects and provide necessary preventative and emergent medical care. Recent literature confirms the need for and success of such systems [30][31][32][33]. Finally, a health registry should be developed in vulnerable communities to track short-term and long-term outcomes related to both chronic and acute OAP exposure.…”

“…Numerous studies have shown that air quality alerts lead to increased individual behavior changes aimed at reducing OAP exposure [26][27][28][29]. Recent efforts have also focused on building emergency response systems for both natural disasters and unnatural incidents [30][31][32][33]. Many of these efforts incorporate proactive communication, monitoring, and management of environmental risks to protect the health of impacted residents.…”

Building core capacities at the designated points of entry according to the International Health Regulations 2005: a review of the progress and prospects in Taiwan

“…According to the criteria defined above, the TIA and PoK updated their emergency plans, and integrated them into protocols for various types of PHEICs ( 19 , 20 ). The drafts were submitted to stakeholders at the PoE and national disaster response authorities for peer-review before finalization.…”

Impact of a Large Fire and Subsequent Pollution Control Failure at a Coke Works on Acute Asthma Exacerbations in Nearby Adult Residents

“…Numerous studies have shown that air quality alerts lead to increased individual behavior changes aimed at reducing OAP exposure [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Recent efforts have also focused on building emergency response systems for both natural disasters and unnatural incidents [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Many of these efforts incorporate proactive communication, monitoring, and management of environmental risks to protect the health of impacted residents.…”

“…Moreover, a comprehensive rapid response system should be put in place to quickly assess immediate health effects and provide necessary preventative and emergent medical care. Recent literature confirms the need for and success of such systems [30][31][32][33]. Finally, a health registry should be developed in vulnerable communities to track short-term and long-term outcomes related to both chronic and acute OAP exposure.…”