CNA(NZ) INC.

PANDEMIC INFLUENZA REFERENCE COMMITTEE

Rhondda Knox
RN, BA, PGDipHSM, FCNA(NZ)

The Pandemic Influenza Reference Committee (PIRC) has been established by the Ministry of Health, as a health sector advisory group, to assess and advise on the capacity of the New Zealand health sector to maintain and provide relevant services in the event of a pandemic of influenza. It will assist a whole-of-country view to the total planning environment and assist in gap definition. Membership is from across the sector encompassing rural, primary, secondary and tertiary providers along with professional groups. The inaugural meeting of the Committee took place on Wednesday, 5 October 2005.

New Zealand has been planning for an influenza pandemic for some time. The Committee were provided with an overview on whole of Government planning and the Ministry's role in Pandemic Planning. Potential scenarios were presented along with workforce planning tools. Each District Health Board is responsible for the development of a Pandemic Action Plan; the planning obligations and accountability of District Health Board's is embedded in statute. Working collectively to ensure nationally consistent planning is in place, PIRC proposed a framework to assess “Active preparedness and planning”. The framework involves the following five work streams- logistics and supply, Public Health, Hospitals, Primary / Rural and Community. It will be applied in critiquing DHB Pandemic Action Plans to ensure consistency and identify gaps at a national, regional and local level. PIRC will be meeting again in November and early 2006.

Table 1 : Intersectoral Pandemic Working Groups

Health Sector

Ministry of Health

Whole of Government

Reprinted from Influenza Pandemic Planning . Planning Guide for Infrastructure Providers. © Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport. October 2005.

Table 2
Overall Influenza Pandemic Management Strategy and Associated Actions

STAGE

NZ STRATEGY

MoH /DHB ALERT CODE

OBJECTIVE AND ACTION

Plan for it

(Planning)

WHITE
(Information / advisory)

• Objective : devise a plan to reduce the health, social and economic impact of a pandemic on New Zealand
• Full engagement of whole of government
• Consultation with and input from many agencies

YELLOW
(Standby)

Prepare to implement pandemic response action plans

Keep it out

(Border Management)

RED
(Activation)

• Objective: keep pandemic out of New Zealand

• Wide range of border management options, up to:

• Closure of New Zealand 's border to all non-nationals

• Quarantine of all returning New Zealand citizens

• Enhance internal disease surveillance and notification

• Investigate and follow up any suspect cases

Stamp it out
(Cluster Control)

• Objective: control and/or eliminate any clusters that might be found in New Zealand

• Isolate and treat patients and households

• Contact trace and treat all contacts

• Restrict movement into/out of affected area(s)

• Close schools and other places where people congregate, and prohibit mass gatherings

• Maintain border management

Manage it
(Pandemic Management)

• Objective: to reduce the impact of pandemic influenza on New Zealand 's population

• Health service reconfiguration to support community response in affected areas

• Social distancing measures

• Support for people cared for at home, and their families

Recover from it (Recovery)

GREEN
(Stand down)

• Objective: expedite the recovery of population health where impacted by pandemic, pandemic management measures, or disruption to normal services

• Phase starts when the population is protected by vaccination, or the pandemic abates in New Zealand

The following websites provide further information about pandemic influenza:

• Ministry of Health ( www.moh.govt.nz/pandemicinfluenza ) – background information about influenza, National Health Emergency Plan, pandemic preparedness, planning, etc.

• World Health Organisation ( www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/index.html ) – updates of global situation, pandemic phases, fact sheets

• Vancouver Coastal Health ( www.vch.ca/public/communicable/pandemic.htm ) – includes PDF chapters for private sector organisation planning, local government planning and self-care, as well as other topics. User-friendly “hand-outs”.

• Centres for Disease Control and Prevention ( www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/ ) – background information about avian influenza, how it is spread, vaccines, outbreak information, travel advice and professional guidance.

0800 AVN FLU
Covers: contacts for businesses, contacts for people concerned about the virus in birds and animals, general information on the status of the virus, advice on how to prepare for a pandemic, advice on how to protect yourself, travel advice, general information about Tamiflu