Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
DH: Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, has published a new plan to increase preparedness and better protect the public against a possible flu pandemic. A new clinical countermeasures strategy has been developed to offer increased protection against the effects of a flu pandemic if a 'worst case scenario' happened.
The Department has already signed agreements with two pharmaceutical companies to supply enough pandemic specific vaccine for the entire population, once the pandemic strain has been identified. It also has an existing stockpile of 3.3 million doses of H5N1 pre-pandemic vaccine for healthcare workers and will be considering all the latest scientific evidence in relation to future decisions on pre-pandemic vaccines.
The DH is also launching a public consultation (closes 22 February 2008) on possible amendments to the medicines and associated legislation. It would seek to widen powers to supply prescription only medicines to ensure patients can continue to access their routine, but essential medicines if front-line staff, especially GPs, are focussed on the most seriously ill.
Alongside the countermeasures a new National Flu Pandemic Framework, which coordinates the responses of all government departments, regional assemblies and all public and private bodies, will set out how the UK will respond if a flu pandemic occurs.
