The Faculty of Public Health has published a new policy paper, Data for Everyone’s Health, which explores the challenges and opportunities in how public health intelligence can be harnessed to improve health and reduce inequalities across the UK.
The paper considers how the use of modern technologies, data, and analysis can be further developed to help deliver more effective, equitable, and timely public health interventions to protect and improve health.
It also identifies key barriers to progress, including fragmented access to data, limited workforce capacity, and the need for clearer pathways for cross-organisation collaboration.
Developed by the Faculty’s Public Health Information and Intelligence Special Interest Group, the paper sets out eight recommendations aimed at government departments, public health agencies, and professional bodies.
These include calls for stronger national leadership on public health intelligence, better data infrastructure, improved career pathways for public health intelligence professionals, and clearer legal frameworks to enable safe and effective data sharing.
The publication supports FPH’s strategic focus on prevention, equity, and systems leadership and underscores the importance of embedding analytical capability across the whole public health system.
By strengthening the role of data and modern technologies in public health practice, the recommendations aim to ensure that public health intelligence is fully utilised to population health.
