The ultimate goal of World Immunisation Week is for more people and their communities to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. The Public Health Agency (PHA) is therefore using this week to remind the public that in Northern Ireland everyone at some point in their lifetime will be eligible for free vaccination. World Immunisation Week is celebrated in the last week of April (24 to 30), and aims to highlight the collective action needed to improve uptake and to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. Louise Flanagan, Consultant in Public Health at

The Public Health Agency is carrying out an important study on the views and experiences of young people towards e-cigarettes/vaping. This study will help us understand young people’s knowledge, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes towards vaping and inform the future design of targeted interventions and communications with regards to vape use by young people. We are inviting post-primary school pupils to participate in an on-line survey. The PHA do not have access to the name and contact details of every post-primary school pupil so they will be invited to take part in the survey by an email

A new campaign focussing on the importance of looking after your eyesight and the benefits of regular eye checks has been launched in pharmacies across Northern Ireland. ‘Look after your eyes’ is running in community pharmacies throughout April and May as part of the Living Well service. It highlights the importance of eye health and aims to increase awareness of how to protect and look after your eyes. Living Well is offered in over 500 pharmacies across Northern Ireland and provides information and advice on public health issues. It is delivered in partnership with the Public Health Agency

The COVID-19 spring booster programme is set to begin on Wednesday 12 April. The spring booster vaccine will help to prolong protection already received from initial COVID vaccinations, ahead of any potential wave of COVID-19 over the summer months. This year’s spring booster will be offered to: Residents in a care home Adults aged 75 years and over Individuals aged 5 years and over who are immunosuppressed Dr Joanne McClean, Director of Public Health at the PHA, said: “COVID-19 is more serious in older people and in people with certain underlying health conditions, for these reasons they are

A new model of care which will improve maternity services for women and babies in Northern Ireland is being launched. The new model, which will see women receive support from the same midwifery team during pregnancy, birth and in the early days after birth, is being rolled out across all Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts in the coming months. ‘Continuity of Midwifery Carer’ (CoMC) is a new model of care for women throughout their childbirth journey that will provide positive clinical outcomes and higher care satisfaction. Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland, Maria McIlgorm said: “This

The Public Health Agency (PHA) has welcomed the latest figures released 8 March, for organ donation in Northern Ireland. They reveal that there are now over one million (1,007,382) people in Northern Ireland registering their decision to be considered a potential organ donor after death. That’s over 16,000 potential lifesavers in the 6 months from September 2022. We know that 90% of people in Northern Ireland support organ donation, so while over one million opt-ins are to be celebrated, it equates to 53% of the population, so there still exists a gap between intention and action. Last May

A service that allows women and girls aged 16 and over to order their contraception online and get it delivered discreetly to their door is now fully operational across Northern Ireland following a successful pilot last year. The service is funded by Health and Social Care and delivered by SH:24 – a free online sexual health service – and can be used to order the pill, the mini-pill and emergency contraception (‘the morning after pill’). The morning after pill is also available for free from many pharmacies across Northern Ireland. Dr Rachel Coyle, Consultant at the Public Health Agency (PHA)

With the clocks springing forward this weekend, the Public Health Agency (PHA) is encouraging people to use the longer evenings to boost their levels of physical activity and improve their health. Colette Brolly, the PHA’s lead on physical activity, said: “The brighter nights are an excellent opportunity to get out and get active. Over the winter months when the evenings are darker, it is easy to get into a routine of staying inside and being less active, but it’s now time to think about what you can do to boost your activity levels. “There are lot of different ways to be active and many of

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging those yet to get a COVID-19 first and second dose to get theirs before the offer ends on 30 June. Rachel Spiers, Immunisation and Vaccination Programme Manager at the PHA, said: “The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the first and second dose offer for healthy people under the age of 50 should end on the 30 June in favour of a more targeted approach in 2023/24. “This means that anyone wanting to get both their first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses before the programme closes on the 30 June, must get their first