Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza

Scope of the document

This document details preparedness measures being undertaken to ensure that Australia is ready to respond to an influenza pandemic. It outlines the response (actions and interventions) that will be considered once the next influenza pandemic virus emerges.

This plan provides a strategic outline of the likely health sector responses, but does not include detailed operational plans and standard operating procedures. The AHMPPI is complemented by a number of national technical annexes (see Appendix C), some of which are complete while others are still under development, as well as a large range of state and territory health department protocols.

This document is written for all Australians. It focuses on the actions that may be taken by governments to control the disease at a population level, so that the essential health needs of all Australians can be met. The measures that individuals and households can take to assist slowing transmission are listed in Part 2.

This plan is based on the premise that the next influenza pandemic strain will first emerge overseas and it will be imported to Australia via an infected traveller. The approach required if a second, less likely, scenario occurs, namely that the pandemic virus first emerges in Australia, is outlined in Appendix D.

This is the third iteration of the AHMPPI. It has been revised in response to a key outcome of the first national influenza pandemic exercise, exercise Cumpston held in 2006. Details on how this document has evolved are provided at Appendix E. The evidence base that supports the AHMPPI is continually developing. This plan is therefore a 'living' document that requires review and reassessment every two years.

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This information is current for 03 September, 2010
This information was issued on 05 December, 2008