The new UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) will have a remit to study the long term health effects of low-level chemical and radiation exposure. This reflects a enw political priority and recognises the public concern about the health risks from use of mobile phones, industrial chemicals and pollution from landfill sites and incinerators. The HPA’s first five-year plan , states that exposure to chemicals and poisons isgreater in poor and disadvantaged areas and that children are be at greatest risk. The HPA indicates that 600 new chemicals enter the market each month in addition to the 70 000 chemicals in regular use.
The HPA is also involved in the Eurosurveillance intitiative, which diffuses information on communicable diseases. The monthly edition is a peer-reviewed journal on communicable disease surveillance, prevention and control. It publishes original articles on the epidemiology of communicable diseases, surveillance reports from national and European programmes, comparisons between the national public health policies in Europe, and outbreaks investigation reports. Some articles extracted from national epidemiological bulletins published in EU Member States are also indexed.
