Preparing for Bird Flu
Government agencies have begun publishing a series of guides to help the public, businesses and the operators of essential services to cope with an outbreak of the avian flu. A wide range of papers is available from the Ministry of Health, including a broad-based paper, "Pandemic Influenza Planning Tools", which describes how the government will manage a flu pandemic. The plan has five components:
- planning for the pandemic - the current phase;
- keeping it out - border management;
- stamping it out - cluster control operations;
- managing it - full pandemic measures; and
- recovery - putting in place measures to return services to normal.
There are also number of a technical papers, a link to the "National Health Emergency Plan" (a generic plan which would be applied in any health emergency), an easy-to-read "Influenza Fact Sheet", information on the anti-viral medication Tamiflu, and a video on personal protection against emerging infectious diseases. There is an email alerts system for updates.
"Pandemic Influenza Planning Tools" can be downloaded from: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/by+unid/76C43B5B22F8969DCC25709F0075A1DA?Open The National Health Emergency Plan can be downloaded from: http://www.moh.govt.nz/7 The Influenza fact sheet (PDF, issued in September 2005) can be downloaded from: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/pandemicinfluenza-resources Information on Tamiflu (issued September 2005) can be found at: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/pandemicinfluenza-resources The video (you will need Windows media Player) can be found at: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/pandemicinfluenza-resources The email alerts system can be found at: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/pandemicinfluenza-resources |
The Ministry of Economic Development (MED) has issued "Influenza Pandemic Planning: Business Continuity Planning Guide", a comprehensive document designed to assist businesses with almost every identifiable issue arising in a pandemic.
Also developed by MED is an "Information Kit for Infrastructure Providers", prepared for the energy, communications, transport and water and waste sectors. It describes the government's actions to manage any future pandemic including strategies for businesses to manage these impacts. It contains, for example, suggestions on maintaining essential activities, and containing/minimising the spread of infection in the workplace. It includes a subscription service for automatic updates.
The business continuity planning guide (PDF, issued October 2005) can be downloaded from: http://www.med.govt.nz/irdev/econ_dev/pandemic-planning/business-continuity/planning-guide/planning-guide.pdf The Information Kit (issued October 2005)can be downloaded from: http://www.med.govt.nz/irdev/econ_dev/pandemic-planning/infrastructure/index.html |
Likewise, The Department of Labour has put in place an automated updating service for managing avian flu in workplaces. It is the start of a package of workplace-related information to help businesses prepare for a pandemic which will include:
- guidance for employers and employees about potential employment issues they might face and options they will have in a pandemic situation;
- additional information to assist with business continuity planning, particularly the identification of core skills and key personnel;
- workplace health and safety guidance (including infection control advice relevant to the workplace); and
- advice on the use of personal protective equipment in the workplace.
The Department of Labour's automatic updating service can be found at: https://dolhealthandsafety.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/dolhealthandsafety.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php |
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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