Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza

A1. Planning and preparedness structure

Coordination of national health sector preparedness in the ALERT phase

Figure 3 outlines the health sector committees that are operational in the ALERT phase. A description of the terms of reference and membership of each committee is detailed in the text that follows.

The committees broadly fall into three different functional categories:

• strategic decision making committees
• expert advisory committees
• operational committees.

These functional categories are represented by different colours. The figure describes the major linkages and reporting lines. The cross communication linkages that occur between many groups and networks depicted in the bottom row of the diagram are not shown.

Figure 3: Health sector coordination in the ALERT phase

Health sector strategic decision making at a national level

The AHPC is chaired by a Deputy Secretary from the DoHA and membership includes the CMO, the Chief Health Officers (CHO) of the states and territories, and representatives of Australian Government organisations involved in emergency management and response. The AHPC reports through the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC), to the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference (AHMC) to advise them on preparedness activities to achieve the health sector goal.

Health sector expert advice

The AHPC is supported by technical advisory committees:

• The Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) is a subcommittee of the AHPC and provides communicable disease and epidemiological advice. Membership of the CDNA comprises human health and veterinary representatives from the Australian Government, human health representatives from the state and territory governments and from organisations in the communicable diseases field, as well as academic experts.
• The Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN) is a subcommittee of the AHPC that comprises representatives of the major public health laboratories in all the states and territories. It provides advice to the AHPC around the laboratory aspects of pandemic planning.

In addition to the technical advisory committees that report directly to the AHPC, the CMO also provides technical advice to the AHPC. The CMO is supported in this role by a number of technical advisory committees including:

• The EAG provides medical, scientific and epidemiological advice to the CMO on the pandemic phase and the triggers that should be considered when a decision is made to change the phase.
• The Chief Medical Officer’s Scientific Influenza Advisory Group (SIAG) provides medical, scientific and evidence based advice to the CMO, and has developed and will continue to review the pandemic planning assumptions during the ALERT phase and the implications for planning and response across all Operational Objectives (except Operational Objective 2.4 Vaccination). Membership comprises experts in the fields of influenza clinical management, epidemiology, public health, virology, animal health management and influenza research.
• The Chief Medical Officer’s Vaccine Advisory Group (VAG) provides advice to the CMO on aspects of vaccines that could be used to control a pandemic virus—Operational Objective 2.4 Vaccination.

Health sector operational advice:

The following groups provide operational advice to the CMO and the AHPC in the ALERT phase:

• The Inter-jurisdictional Pandemic Planners Working Group (IPPWG), whose membership includes the person responsible for pandemic planning in each state and territory, work to ensure national consistency, where required, in jurisdictional operational responses except those relating to vaccination.
• The National Health Emergency Media Response Network (NHEMRN) provides advice to the AHPC and coordinates the public communications response in a pandemic (Operational Objective 1.2). The NHEMRN comprises media liaison managers in Australian Government, state and territory agencies, the medical colleges and professional associations.
• The Chief Quarantine Officers (CQO) group provides operational planning for border activities (Operational Objective 2.2).
• The Australian Health Protection Committee/National Immunisation Committee (AHPC/NIC) Pandemic Vaccine Working Group on vaccines provides operational advice to AHPC on the use of pandemic vaccines (Operational Objective 2.4). Members of the National Immunisation Committee are national immunisation coordinators.

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