The FPH Board met remotely today to discuss COVID-19 strategies in the 4 nations of the UK, the Independent SAGE report, adjustments to FPH examinations and our Annual Report for 2019.
The Board was pleased to meet during European Public Health Week, coordinated by the European Public Health Association, which aims to raise awareness of important public health themes and connect public health professionals across Europe.
Each day of European Public Health week addresses a different theme, with today's theme being 'Equal Health for All'. The vision of the Faculty of Public Health, as reflected in our organisational strategy 2020 - 25, is to ensure 'Better Health for All - leaving no one behind', and so the Board was happy to see today's theme reflected in the work of the Faculty. In particular, the Board:
- agreed to review and respond to the recommendations of the Independent SAGE report;
- approved a statement drawn up the FPH Ethics Committee on ‘tackling the social, professional and political challenges of COVID-19: the crucial role of public health’
- recognised the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities and the systemic failure over time to capture data on protected characteristics, in particular ethnicity
- agreed to schedule a further meeting of the Board to discuss specifically how the FPH might influence the UK’s public health systems moving forward
We would also like to draw your attention to our recently published supplement to the Journal of Public Health featuring a special collection of papers on Public Health Ethics and the science of social justice, with several papers within the collection addressing the importance of health equity.
Other themes during the week include promoting health through global goals; primary care in the digital age; staying together for mental health and grow old, grow healthy.
The Faculty of Public Health is pleased to be a part of European Public Health Week, and to support its aim of fostering collaboration between colleagues and celebrating the public health profession.
