About NEPHO

The North East PHO (NEPHO) is one of nine regional public health observatories in England, funded by the Department of Health, to strengthen the availability and use of health information at local level.

NEPHO covers the North East Government Office region, comprising Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Tees Valley.

We aim to provide regular, high quality public health information for all agencies working to improve health in the North East region and to support its use to improve health and reduce health inequalities.

Main tasks

Our main tasks are to support local bodies by:

• Monitoring health and disease trends and highlighting areas for action;
• Identifying gaps in health information;
• Advising on methods for health and health inequality impact assessments;
• Drawing together information from different sources in new ways to improve health;
• Carrying out projects to highlight particular health issues;
• Evaluating progress by local agencies in improving health and cutting inequality;
• Looking ahead to give early warning of future public health problems.