Key Summary
- UKHSA publishes its first Health Security Risk Assessment.
- The document characterises the most significant health security risks facing the UK over the next 5 years.
- Respiratory infections with pandemic potential continue to represent the greatest risk to UK health security.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published its first Health Security Risk Assessment (HSRA), a publication which gives insights into the major health security risks posing threat over the next five years.
Earlier, the Cabinet Office’s had published a National Risk Register. But HSRA goes further and offers a more detailed view of health-related threats and provides a systematic framework.
It is also the first to offer an assessment comparing and contrasting the range of threats that the agency is responsible for. It uses a structured approach to identify and assess a suite of acute health risks.
Professor Steven Riley, chief data officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), emphasised the vital need to enhance national preparedness and resilience planning, particularly as complex health threats disproportionately impact vulnerable groups.
He stated that the report reflects the broad scope of the UKHSA's role and is designed to support cross-sector partners who collaborated on its development.
Riley also noted that while high-consequence respiratory infections remain the nation's greatest threat, the framework comprehensively evaluates risks across seven distinct thematic areas, including environmental and vector-borne hazards.
The HSRA relies on "Reasonable Worst-Case Scenarios" to stress-test national resilience. These models are not predictions of what is most likely to happen.
Instead, they map out the most severe, yet scientifically plausible, ways a health threat could impact the UK, ensuring health services are prepared for any scale of emergency.
