The threat of a new pandemic remains a key global risk. The Australian Government invested around $194 million between 2006 and 2015 through the aid program to help countries in Asia and the Pacific combat emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), such as avian influenza. Investments were guided by two strategies that aimed to strengthen human and...

This paper addresses the question of whether Australia and the near region are ready for the next attack of influenza. It notes that new pathogens are constantly emerging and also rapidly changing, developing better-tuned defences that resist human efforts to contain and control them.

The 1918-19 influenza pandemic represents one of the worst human pandemics in recorded history. Given the severity of this pandemic, it could be described as a worst case scenario for guiding future population-based pandemic planning.

This dissertation is a comparative analysis of the experience of several western Polynesian states during the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic, and in particular an inquiry into how the response to the second wave of this pandemic determined the mortality for each island group. Historically, Pacific island states have faced challenges in controlling infectious disease. Distance, isolation...

Exercise Cumpston 06 was the first major event of its kind conducted by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The aim was to exercise the capacity and capability of the Australian health system to prevent, detect and respond to an influenza pandemic.