BEGINS

NEWS RELEASE

Ministry of Health Welcomes Public Health England Team

Today the Ministry of Health welcomes a team from Public Health England (PHE) to assist the MOH with Covid-19 related activities. Dr. Newton and Professor Ian Cumming will be joining the public health team within the Ministry of Health to provide technical support. It is important to note that the Ministry of Health has had a strong working relationship with PHE over the years and in particular in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

PHE has played an instrumental role in supporting the TCIs National Public Health Laboratory in the commencement of in country testing for Covid-19. This support has consisted of technical advice, sharing and reviewing of documents as well as the procurement of equipment, materials and consumables which have been extremely challenging to procure due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the unprecedented global demand on these items. The PHE team has also worked closely with the National Epidemiology and Research Unit in surveillance and epidemiological activities.

Professor Ian Cumming, OBE MSc FIBMS CSci FRCGP (hon) is the UK Overseas Territories SRO for Health,

NHS Global Workforce Ambassador in addition to being the Professor of Global Health Workforce and Strategy - Keele University.

Dr. Autilia Newton runs the PHE UKOT (UK Overseas Territories) team. Dr. Newton is an expert in infectious disease management and has extensive experience as a consultant in communicable disease control. Dr. Newton also has an expertise in prison health as well as significant experience in public health outside the UK. Dr. Newton has visited the TCI previous occasions and provided her expert advice to the MOH.

The Ministry of Health is extremely grateful for the support received thus far from PHE and looks forward to the added support which will be provided through this technical visit.

For up to date information on Covid-19, please visit the MOHs website https://www.gov.tc/moh/coronavirus/.

END