UKHSA launches science strategy

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has launched a ten-year science strategy to secure health and prosperity.

The plan sets out how UKHSA’s science can save more lives and contribute to the UK’s ambition to be a global science superpower. The strategy outlines how the UKHSA's scientific capabilities, including genomics, vaccine evaluation, surveillance, data science, diagnostics and toxicology, will be deployed to prepare for future health security hazards, respond to current threats to save lives, reduce harm, protect livelihoods and essentially build the UK’s health security capacity.

The strategy outlines UKHSA’s ambitions to: predict and anticipate health threats, through unique and expert skills in genomics, data science and surveillance, including disease vector (such as mosquitoes and ticks) surveillance; create a more secure environment, by enhancing our understanding of the threats in the environment and building scientific defences against these hazards; and reduce and eliminate health threats, by strengthening the scientific evidence underpinning health protection programmes – at home and abroad.

Other ambitions include to act on the scientific evidence, translating data, knowledge and insights into practical actions and unlock the potential of scientific assets, and secure the legacy from the pandemic to increase the impact of our science on health and economic prosperity, strengthening vaccine and diagnostic development and evaluation and data science.

Professor Isabel Oliver, chief scientific advisor at UKHSA, said: "We saw the art of the possible during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with genomic data allowing the rapid identification and characterisation of variants enabling the rapid development and evaluation of diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.

"Science was the backbone of the world’s response, helping us to understand the virus, how to best protect ourselves and ultimately live safely with the virus. UKHSA will deploy its unique scientific capabilities working with partners to protect lives and livelihoods from the health threats we are facing now and those we will detect, prevent and control in future."

Health Minister Maria Caulfield said: "Cutting-edge science showed its power throughout our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to protect people from potential future health threats.

"UKHSA’s new science strategy will ensure the UK remains one of the world’s science superpowers, while protecting people from illness and reducing pressure on NHS services – helping to deliver on the government’s priority of cutting waiting lists."