Two countries in the WHO European Region publish revised pandemic preparedness plans

Countries across the European Region are currently in the process of revising their pandemic plans based on national evaluations of the response to the pandemic (H1N1) 2009. So far, two countries have published their revised plans: France and the United Kingdom.

The revised French plan aims to create more flexibility by having a graduated and adapted response to a pandemic based on the local situation. Other significant changes in the updated French plan are increased involvement of general practitioners in pandemic planning and the development of response capacities based as much as possible on existing human and material resources.

The updated UK strategy introduces revised pandemic phases for the country, i.e. detection and assessment; treatment; escalation; and recovery. The new strategy aims to ensure a response that is proportionate to the severity of pandemic influenza viruses, rather than simply focusing on the “worst case” planning assumptions. The strategy also emphasizes developing better plans for the initial response to a new influenza pandemic.

Following a series of joint-WHO/ECDC workshops on pandemic preparedness, which focused on revising pandemic plans, WHO/Europe anticipates that additional countries will publish revised plans in the coming months.