A public administrative agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, the agency was established in May 2016 by ordinance and decree.
Formed through the merger of four organizations (the Institute for Health Surveillance—InVS, the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education—INPES, the Agency for Preparedness and Response to Public Health Emergencies—EPRUS, and the public interest group Adalis—Addiction, Drugs, Alcohol Info Service), Santé publique France is a leading center for public health and a scientific advisory agency, grounded in the continuum between knowledge and action.

From Knowledge to Action

Santé publique France’s mission is to improve and protect the health of the population. This mission is structured around three major pillars: anticipate, understand, and act.

• Anticipate: ensuring the implementation of a national monitoring and surveillance system to detect and anticipate health risks and provide decision-making information to public authorities.The roles involved in managing and maintaining the alert system, monitoring and analyzing signals, and conducting investigations enable Santé publique France to perform data analysis that closely reflects reality, assess risks, and thus issue, as quickly as possible, the recommendations necessary for public authorities to make decisions to protect exposed populations.

• Understanding: improving knowledge about the population’s health status, behaviors, and health risks, and designing intervention strategies for prevention and health promotion. On a daily basis, Santé publique France conducts surveillance activities and population surveys, supports or participates in research, and contributes to health impact assessments, the design of prevention programs and projects, and their evaluation. These activities enable it to assess the population’s health status and adapt its prevention and health promotion efforts according to population characteristics and emerging priorities.

• Taking Action: promoting health, addressing environmental factors, piloting and implementing prevention programs, and responding to health crises. Santé publique France provides expertise and advisory services in the areas of prevention, health education, and health promotion. Its expertise in communication, social marketing, and remote support helps to change the health behaviors of the French population. Santé publique France also contributes to the development of public health skills and practices among health and prevention professionals, as well as to knowledge transfer for the advancement of health promotion and education throughout the country. Santé publique France manages thematic prevention websites (for the general public and professionals) and also oversees and supports 16 remote assistance programs. Through its expertise, Santé publique France prepares for and contributes to the management of exceptional health situations and implements the response plans necessary to protect the population. This involves the administrative, financial, and logistical management of the Health Reserve (recruitment, training, mobilization, and coordination) and of the stocks of products and treatments (acquisition, manufacturing, importation, storage, transport, distribution, and export) entrusted by the State.

In collaboration with the field actors it helps to lead and coordinate, the agency produces independent scientific expertise in public health to protect and improve the health of the population, upon which it bases its planning approach, schedules its interventions, and allocates its resources. This knowledge is made available to the relevant authorities to inform health policies and to preserve and promote health.

By addressing both the determinants of health and the populations themselves, Santé publique France places the consideration of social health inequalities at the heart of its work.

A solid foundation of values

Santé publique France is guided by a comprehensive and positive approach to health.

A commitment to the public interest underpins the agency’s values. To this end, the agency’s credibility relies on strict, shared, and transparent ethical and professional standards.

Equity. The agency promotes health in all policies, in a spirit of social and territorial equity. This involves incorporating the fight against territorial and social health inequalities as a core value in its priorities and recommendations, while simultaneously striving to promote health in all areas of life, notably through close collaboration with lawmakers to integrate health into public policies.

Responsiveness and a long-term perspective.
Responsiveness, whether to issue alerts or to intervene. A long-term perspective is essential, as health is built throughout one’s life, with today’s exposures becoming tomorrow’s risks or diseases. Thus, Santé publique France is committed to ensuring the sustainability of health information and the consistency of public health interventions over time, as well as responsiveness to threats or crisis situations.