In a statement to the House of Commons, the Rt Hon Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health today (22 November) announced the publication of the final version of ‘A national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic’. This takes into account comments made about the draft version of the document, published in March 2007, as well as lessons learned from the Winter Willow national pandemic planning exercise.

Alan Johnson told the House of Commons that a worst case scenario of a 50 percent national infection rate has been considered when developing the plan and that the document provides guidance on school closures, social gatherings and the use of public space during a pandemic. The document aims to inform both public and private sector pandemic planning activities.

Alan Johnson also informed the House of Commons that:

- A further £10m will be provided to the National Health Service for pandemic planning activities;
- The government has signed an agreement for the provision of influenza vaccine for the total UK population;
- The government has signed an agreement for the supply of Tamiflu for 25 percent of the UK population and is planning to expand this agreement to cover 50 percent of the UK population.

Download the document and other resources.

•Date: 22nd Nov 2007• Region:UK •Type: Article •Topic: Pandemic planning
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