The Generative Brain

HCSP, Haut Conseil de la sante publique (French High Council for Public Health)

The HCSP is the French national advisory body on public health. It was created by the public health policy law of 9 August 2004, began work in 2007, and advises ministers on health risk management, prevention and health security, working with the health agencies. It took over from the Conseil superieur d'hygiene publique de France and the Haut comite de la sante publique and sits with the health ministry. For prion disease it is the expert body behind several French rules. Its opinion dated 7 September 2023 led the ministry to keep the older standard prion protocol (PSP v2011) for reusable surgical instruments until 31 December 2026, and its 1 June 2026 opinion updated what to do after a prion or propagon exposure accident. It also advises on variant CJD safeguards in blood: in 2024 it kept the UK stay donor exclusion, and in 2025 it recommended dropping leukoreduction for plasma used to make LFB medicines while keeping it for labile blood products. Information only, not medical, legal or regulatory advice.

Key facts

  • The HCSP was created by the law of 9 August 2004 on public health policy and set up in 2007; its missions are defined in article L.1411-4 of the public health code, rewritten by the health system law of 26 January 2016.
  • Its four missions are to help draw up and evaluate the national health strategy, to give public authorities expertise on health risk management and on prevention and health security policy, to provide forward-looking advice on public health, and to contribute to child health policy; ministers and parliamentary committee chairs may consult it on any question.
  • It works through five specialised commissions (infectious and emerging diseases; health determinants and non-communicable diseases; environmental risks; health system and patient safety; children and young people) coordinated by a Collège.
  • It replaced the Conseil superieur d'hygiene publique de France (1902 to 2004) and the Haut comite de la sante publique (1992 to 2004), and is attached to the health ministry; 121 members were appointed for the previous term by an order of 23 June 2022.
  • In February 2026 it opened applications for its fifth term, 2026 to 2030, seeking about twenty experts per commission and five for the Collège, to be appointed by the health minister.
  • Its opinion on prion and propagon exposure accidents and on invasive care is dated 7 September 2023 and went online on 30 October 2023; it cites two recent exposure accidents in French prion research laboratories that led to a research moratorium as its context.
  • That 2023 opinion recommended more study of the infectious risk of propagons, a response protocol for skin or eye exposure in prion laboratories, keeping the instruction 449 measures for invasive care, strengthening screening of patients and at-risk procedures, and pushing the PSP v2018 deadline back by at least three years to the end of 2026.
  • The health ministry had asked for the 2023 opinion, and after it the DGS and DGOS told regional health agencies that PSP v2011 stays in force until 31 December 2026; the ANSM cites the opinion by its 30 October 2023 publication date.
  • On 24 April 2025 the DGS and the labour directorate asked the HCSP to update the 2023 opinion because one recommendation was hard to apply; the update is dated 1 June 2026, went online on 13 August 2026 and replaces the 2023 text.
  • The 2026 update advises immediate action to encourage bleeding after a prion exposure accident, bleach at 2.6 percent active chlorine for a puncture or damaged skin, saline or water for mucous membranes, the same approach for high risk propagon exposure, and research to close knowledge gaps given uncertain efficacy. This is a summary of an official opinion, not first aid advice.
  • In an opinion dated 24 October 2024 it recommended keeping the permanent donation exclusions for past transfusion and for more than one year in the UK between 1980 and 1996, citing uncertainty about the variant CJD epidemic and waiting for new ECDC recommendations.
  • In an opinion dated 26 June 2025, drafted with the ANSM, the EFS, the LFB and prion specialists, it recommended dropping the 1998 French leukoreduction step for plasma used to make 14 LFB medicines, judging residual prion infectivity negligible, while keeping leukoreduction for labile blood products and strengthening surveillance for new vCJD and atypical prion cases.
  • Its recent output is weighted toward infection control and the safety of blood, organs and tissues, with prion items in October 2024, June 2025 and June 2026 among the opinions listed from late 2023 to mid 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2004Public health policy law creates the HCSP.
  2. 2007HCSP set up.
  3. 2016Health system modernisation law rewrites the HCSP missions.
  4. 2022Order appoints 121 members for the fourth term.
  5. 2023Opinion on prion and propagon exposure accidents and invasive care adopted; online 30 October 2023.
  6. 2023DGS and DGOS extend PSP v2011 to 31 December 2026 on the basis of the HCSP opinion.
  7. 2024Opinion keeps the UK stay and transfusion donor exclusions; online 5 December 2024.
  8. 2025DGS and DGT ask the HCSP to update the 2023 prion exposure opinion.
  9. 2025Opinion recommends dropping leukoreduction for plasma for fractionation; online 17 July 2025.
  10. 2026Call for members for the 2026 to 2030 term.
  11. 2026Updated opinion on prion and propagon exposure accidents; online 13 August 2026.
  12. 2026End of the PSP v2011 transition set after the 2023 opinion.
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