Public Health & Laboratories
Public health and laboratories covers population health protection infrastructure, including national public health institutes, reference and diagnostic laboratory networks, high-containment and biosafety laboratories, disease surveillance systems and quarantine facilities.
- Indicators
- 3
- Leaders
- 10placeholder ratings
- Like it
- 8capabilities
- Developments
- 10
What Public Health & Laboratories is, and how it is measured
Public health and laboratories covers population health protection infrastructure, including national public health institutes, reference and diagnostic laboratory networks, high-containment and biosafety laboratories, disease surveillance systems and quarantine facilities.
Indicators
- High-containment laboratories in operation
- Reference laboratory network coverage
- Laboratory testing capacity per capita
The nations that lead in Public Health & Laboratories
These ratings stand in until the capability is rated.
| # | Nation | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | AAA |
| 2 | China | AA |
| 3 | Germany | AA |
| 4 | France | A |
| 5 | Switzerland | A |
| 6 | Israel | A |
| 7 | Norway | BBB |
| 8 | India | BBB |
| 9 | United States | BB |
| 10 | Denmark | BB |
The capabilities most like Public Health & Laboratories
Likeness, from 0 to 1, as the Atlas measures it.
How Public Health & Laboratories came to be
- Governance
- Society
Historical Developments
Oldest first1940
United Kingdom established an Emergency Public Health Laboratory Service against bacteriological warfare
The wartime service was created in response to the threat of bacteriological warfare. It formed the institutional nucleus of Britain's later peacetime public health laboratory network.
1946
United Kingdom established the Public Health Laboratory Service within the NHS
The PHLS was constituted as part of the newly founded National Health Service. It gave Britain a permanent national reference and diagnostic laboratory network for population health protection.
1955
Public Health Laboratory Service had grown to about 1000 staff
Within a decade of its founding the PHLS employed roughly a thousand people. The growth marks the consolidation of a substantial standing laboratory capability.
2003
United Kingdom replaced the PHLS with the Health Protection Agency
The long-standing Public Health Laboratory Service was absorbed into a new Health Protection Agency. The change reorganised national laboratory functions under a broader health protection remit.
2004
European Commission issued Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 on official controls
The regulation formed part of the European framework governing official control and reference laboratories. It shaped the legal basis for laboratory capability across the member states.
Recent Developments
Most recent first2021
United Kingdom created the UK Health Security Agency as successor body
After the Health Protection Agency was disbanded and succeeded by Public Health England, that body in turn became the UK Health Security Agency. The reorganisation refocused national public health laboratory and surveillance capability on health security.
June 2007
World Health Organization member states brought the 2005 International Health Regulations into force
The revised International Health Regulations entered into force in June 2007, binding 196 countries. They established the category of Public Health Emergency of International Concern, extending beyond disease, and positioned national public health laboratories as hazard detection centres reporting to the WHO.
2007
Haim Hacham et al. published on standardised international laboratory accreditation in Israel
The paper set out the need for and the process of achieving internationally standardised accreditation for laboratory proficiency. It contributed to the push for comparable quality standards across national laboratory systems.
2006
European Commission issued Regulation (EC) No 776/2006
A further Commission regulation added to the European legal framework for laboratory controls. It extended the governance arrangements applying to public health laboratory work in the EU.
2006
Spitzenberger and Edelhäuser raised concerns over obstacles in ISO accreditation
The authors argued that ISO accreditation faced difficulties from newly emerging medical devices and changed assessment approaches. Their work highlighted the time dependence of laboratory standards.