We're prepared
- The World Health Organization is maintaining its global pandemic alert level at Phase 6, which recognises the ongoing spread of human swine flu around the world.
- There are many measures the Government and residents of Western Australia have taken to manage the spread of infection over the past few months.
- Spread of the pandemic virus is declining as we enter spring, but it is expected that some transmission will continue over summer, and that there will be another wave of pandemic influenza activity over winter in 2010.
- The current focus of prevention is the roll-out and promotion of the vaccine against pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza.
What Australia is doing
The Australian Health Protection Committee (which includes representatives from WA) has been meeting frequently to plan and coordinate Australia’s response to the influenza pandemic. Part of that response included adapting existing pandemic plans to suit the behaviour of the H1N1 2009 virus. The PROTECT pandemic response phase was developed for this reason after the H1N1 2009 virus began circulating in Australia.
The most recent component of Australia and WA’s response was the roll-out of the new vaccine against pandemic (H1N1) 2009 on 30 September 2009.
- Health Alert – Human swine flu – Commonwealth Health site
- Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza
- About pandemic phases - Australian Government Health Emergency site
What WA is doing
- The Department of Health has a detailed pandemic plan to ensure we manage this new threat to public health. The WA plan aligns with the national plan, including use of the PROTECT Annex which was developed specifically to address the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus.
- Download WA Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza (PDF 670KB)
The future
We will progressively activate further pandemic arrangements as required.