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At the March meeting of the REHIS Council it was agreed that all CPD scheme participants who are EHOs will, as from 2008, be required to submit corroborative evidence of CPD activities along with their record cards. CPD record cards can be downloaded from the members area of the REHIS website and are also available from the REHIS office. EHO members requiring further information should contact Val Cameron or Jennifer Watkins at the REHIS office.

Donations in lieu of gifts to speakers and chairmen and proceeds from a raffle at the REHIS Annual Conference Dinner have raised the sum of £615 for the Scotland Chikwawa (Malawi) Health Initiative. The money raised will be used to fund food hygiene training in the Chikwawa region in southern Malawi.
Bernard Forteath, President of REHIS, sends his thanks to all the speakers, chairmen, delegates and staff who contributed to the donation.
Anyone wishing to know more about the Scotland Chikwawa (Malawi) Health Initiative, which was established last year in association with the University of Strathclyde’s Malawi Millennium Project, should contact Tom Bell, Chief Executive, at the REHIS office.

The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland(REHIS) has expressed confidence in its members’ role in dealing with any threat of illness pandemics,chemical and biological attacks.

REHIS is delighted to announce the launch of a new feature on its homepage.

The first new feature is the addition of the ‘job vacancies – opportunities in environmental health’ portal on the homepage. This feature will allow access to current vacancies in the Scottish environmental health community.

Further developments are imminent – watch this space!

REHIS is a member of The Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Food and was represented by Graham Walker, Director of Training, at the latest meeting which was held in the Parliament on 7 February.
The main item on the Agenda was Theme 1 of the Scottish Diet Action Plan Review.
In support of this item five short presentations were given including one by Professor Tim Lang who chaired the Review Panel.

Members will be aware that the REHIS Elementary Food and Health Course was developed following the implementation of Hungry for Success, an initiative that is part of the Scottish Diet Action Plan and was a consultee of NHS Health Scotland during the review.

A summary of the review is attached.

A Scotland in which lung cancer is virtually wiped out is a real possibility in years to come if the reduction in deaths speeds up as expected, Chief Medical Officer Harry Burns (pictured) said in his first annual report.

In a wide-ranging summary of the nation’s health, Dr Burns concludes that the overall picture is optimistic.
For the full report click here

The President of REHIS, John Stirling, has written to the Health Minister Andy Kerr (pictured), asking him to take action on the licensing of sunbed parlours. Measures were outlined in a propososed private Members’ Bill due to be put to the Scottish Parliament by Ken Macintosh, MSP. However, it now appears that there will be insufficient time for the Bill to proceed before the election in May 2007.

John Stirling wrote that it would be our preference that primary legislation is brought forward to require a licensing or a registration scheme across Scotland. Currently, some Councils have their own schemes in place, however, there needs to be a level playing field.

Five new Honorary Vice-Presidents of REHIS have been elected.Three of them received their Certificates at the Annual Award Ceremony which was kindly hosted by Glasgow City Council on 22 November 2006.
The new Honorary Vice-Presidents,elected by the Council of REHIS,are:

George Georgallas,General Secretary of APHI Cyprus

Robin Harper,MSP

Kenneth Macintosh,MSP

Stewart Maxwell,MSP

Professor George Morris

Ann Marie Part,Chairman of EHOA Ireland

The Council may elect as Honorary Vice-Presidents individuals who are able to further the aims of the Institute.

Pictured here are George Georgallas,John Stirling,Ann Marie Part and Stewart Maxwell,MSP.

Four members of the Institute have had the award of fellowship conferred upon them.The presentation of their Certificate of Fellowship was made at the Annual Awards Ceremony which was kindly hosted by Glasgow City Council on 22 November 2006.
The new fellows are:
Liz Corbett
John Frater
Martin Henry
George Morris
The award of fellowship is made for outstanding and distinguished service to the work of the Institute.
Pictured here are John Frater,Liz Corbett,John Stirling and Martin Henry.

The 1000th REHIS Food and Health Course Certificate has been presented to Ann Sargent of South Ayrshire Council. Ann received her certificate from REHIS President Bernard Forteath with South Ayrshire Councillor Pam Pearson at a presentation ceremony in Ayr.
The course,which is proving to be very popular,is available at REHIS food safety training centres throughout Scotland.
For more information contact Graham Walker on 0131 225 5444 or gw@

The President of REHIS, John Stirling (pictured) states in his opening address to this year’s Conference that the environmental health profession ‘is being relegated to the lower tiers of local government’

He warns that the dramatic reduction in the number of Environmental Health Officers ‘should be of concern to the powers-that-be’

See press release

Five delegates from the Association of Public Health Inspectors of Cyprus will fly in for this week’s Conference in Glasgow. The party is visiting as part of the link formed between the two organisations last year.