Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza
The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has published new pandemic planning guidelines. The ‘Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza’ is an update on similar guidance published in 2006.
The assumptions about what the next pandemic might look like and the likely effectiveness of different interventions have been reviewed, and in some cases revised in light of new evidence.
According to the World Health Organization, it is inevitable that the world will face another influenza pandemic. While there is no certainty about when the next one will occur, Australia must be prepared. An influenza pandemic could devastate a nation’s health system and our health sector must be equipped to respond to minimise the impact on the health of all Australians and on the health system itself.
Australia’s strategy to achieve these goals is outlined in this plan – the Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza (AHMPPI). The AHMPPI (2008) is a significant revision of the plan and outlines the measures that the health sector as a whole would consider taking in response to an influenza pandemic. This iteration of the national health plan is a significant step forward, and reflects a maturing of pandemic planning in Australia.
See Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza.
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A Pandemic Preparation and Response Plan should be an essential component of any Business Continuity Management Program.
