HSE Public Health: Health Protection

HSE’s Public Health: Health Protection was created as part of the wider Public Health Reform Programme and launched as a national service with the first National Health Protection Strategy in October 2022. The mission of the HSE Public Health: Health Protection is “To Protect and Prevent”: to protect the people of Ireland from all-hazards and prevent harm from health threats, national and international.

We do this by providing strategic health protection direction to HSE Public Health, working in collaboration with key partners (national and international), on prevention, early identification, preparedness, and response to threats from all health protection hazards.

Our organisational structures are described here.

Figure 1 Elements of HSE Public Health: Health Protection

• The National Health Protection Office is led by the Director of National Health Protection (DNHP), supported by a Senior Management Team which includes National Consultant Leads for Surveillance, Immunisation and Health Security (Threats).
• A tier of Consultants in Public Health Medicine (CPHMs) working in the National Office, NIO and HPSC, provide leadership and expert guidance to any response to or preparation for extant or emergent health threats, working closely with Area Team based CPHMs with special interest in Health Protection (CPHMs si HP).