Santé publique France
Epidemiology, studies, communication, prevention and health promotion – Santé publique France
An establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, the agency was created in May 2016 by bringing together four bodies (the Institut de Veille Sanitaire, the Institut National de Prévention et d’Education pour la Santé, the Etablissement de Préparation et de Réponse aux Urgences Sanitaires and the Adalis public interest group – addiction, drogue, alcool info service).
Santé publique France’s mission is to improve and protect public health. This mission is based around three major areas:
Anticipating: implementing a national monitoring and surveillance system to detect and anticipate health risks and provide public authorities with the information they need to make decisions.
Understanding: improving knowledge of the population’s state of health, behaviour and health risks, and devising prevention and health promotion intervention strategies.
Taking action: promoting health, acting on environments, testing and implementing prevention programmes, responding to health crises. Santé publique France provides expertise and advice on prevention, health education and health promotion. Its skills in communication, social marketing and remote assistance help to bring about changes in French people’s health behaviour.
Acting on both determinants and populations, Santé publique France places the consideration of social inequalities in health at the heart of its work.
These different orientations are reflected in the field of Vaccination, a major challenge for Santé publique France. The agency evaluates France’s vaccination policy by monitoring vaccination coverage and the impact of vaccination on the dynamics of diseases targeted by vaccination. It conducts studies and produces data on the perception and practices of vaccination, both among the general public and healthcare professionals. It develops information, promotion and social marketing initiatives designed to increase public support for vaccination.