The Public Health Agency leads and strengthens population and public health, with a greater emphasis on equity and the wider determinants of health such as income, education and housing.
Established on 1 July 2022, the Public Health Agency (PHA) sits at the heart of Manatū Hauora and leads all public health and population health policy, strategy, regulatory, intelligence, surveillance and monitoring functions, and has a key role in providing advice to Ministers on all public health matters.
The PHA provides public health leadership across the health and disability sector and beyond, and influences the wider determinants of population health to enable people, their whānau and environments to be healthy and improve their wellbeing.
The Public Health Agency will also develop a more effective public health knowledge and surveillance system to integrate mātauranga Māori and tofa loloto into evidence-based health policy. The use of intelligence and monitoring of public health will inform the system on how to help New Zealanders live longer, healthier lives.
Pou Whirinaki are the design elements the Public Health Agency uses to represent the concept of weaving together relationships, strategies and plans. The visual design has two key elements, the whenu (the horizontal strand in weaving) and pou (straight and true post used in construction).
The whenu remind us that we need to weave together multiple relationships, strategies and plans. There’s no single weaver, but a large team who need to cooperate and work together. The pou remind us that we’re building towards the five key system shifts and health systems principles.
Together, the design shows that the functions of the Public Health Agency and connections to other agencies in the health and disability sector need to be firmly bound together so that the people of Aotearoa New Zealand feel safe and connected in their health and disability services.
The new Public Health Advisory Committee will provide the Minister of Health and Associate Ministers with independent, public-facing, science-based public health advice.
It will prioritise equity-based approaches, including considering underlying factors that affect the health of people and communities. Members will be informed by and reflect the perspectives of Māori and Pacific peoples and the wider community as they employ creative solutions to drive better health outcomes.
A formal process of selecting and appointing members is currently underway and will be announced once Ministers and Cabinet have made a final decision.
Page last updated: 14 July 2022
Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand
Te Aka Whai Ora | Māori Health Authority
Whaikaha | Ministry of Disabled People
Te Aho o Te Kahu | Cancer Control Agency