Health Protection Unit


Health Protection Unit

A local division (e.g., Thames Valley HPU) of the Health Protection Agency, an executive Government agency in England which is independent of the NHS. The HPUs act on the local level to protect the public from environmental hazards to health, primarily infectious (communicable) disease but also other hazards such as chemicals, toxins and radiation. HPUs work in conjunction with GPs, hospital doctors, microbiology labs, and local authority Environmental Health departments.