Group of experts will be deployed to outbreaks within 48 hours
A team of UK health experts has been assembled to provide a rapid response to disease outbreaks around the globe. The move is a response to the Ebola crisis, which highlighted the need to address public health threats before they become a global emergency.
The UK Public Health Rapid Support Team is composed of clinicians, scientists and academics who will be on call to respond to urgent requests from countries worldwide. The team can be deployed anywhere in the world within 48 hours to tackle the outbreak at source.
Government funding of £20million will finance the team over five years. It is being run jointly by Public Health England (PHE) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Public Health minister Nicola Blackwood said: "Ebola shook the world and brave experts from the UK led the global response in Sierra Leone. The ability to deploy emergency support to investigate and respond to disease outbreaks within 48 hours will save lives, prevent further outbreaks and cement the UK’s position as a leader in global health security."
Duncan Selbie, PHE's chief executive, added: "Speed is key in tackling infectious disease, and with this new capability we can now deploy specialists anywhere in the world within 48 hours, saving and protecting lives where an outbreak starts and helping to keep the UK safe at home."
When they are not responding to a disease outbreak, the team will research control methods for different types of outbreak. A group of public reservists will also be trained to ensure the UK is able to scale up its response to disease outbreaks and health emergencies.
The team will work with their counterparts in developing countries, training local response teams to identify and control outbreaks, in addition to preventing the spread of water-borne infections such as cholera.
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