Communicable diseases information

This page contains information on some of the activities of the Surveillance Branch, Office of Health Protection, in managing communicable diseases in Australia.

In this section:

Overview

Communicable diseases remain a significant public health priority both in Australia and internationally. The problems facing Australia today are diverse: foodborne diseases; emergence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria; sexually transmitted diseases; vectorborne diseases; vaccine preventable diseases. New and emerging diseases such as bat lyssavirus and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) as well as the threat of an intentional release of a biological agent, pose potential threats to public health.

The Office of Health Protection (OHP) is engaged in a range of activities to reduce the incidence, and thereby the social and economic impact of communicable disease. OHP holds key roles as a co-ordinator of national action in response to communicable disease outbreaks, and as a leader in the development of best practice guidelines and national public health policy. A national perspective is achieved through networks such as the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) and documents such as the National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy.

OHP provides technical and policy advice on communicable diseases in the context of ensuring best practice public health nationally. Extensive national and international networking facilitates access to a pool of expertise in communicable diseases and related fields, which ensures appropriate and timely responses to disease outbreaks of national significance and high quality input into public health decisions, policy and programs.

Involvement in the administration of human health aspects of the Quarantine Act 1908, together with close liaison with the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestries - Australia and the Food Standards Australia New Zealand strengthens OHP's multidirectional approach to disease control.

Strategies and activities

Communicable Diseases Network Australia - Enquiries and information should be directed to:
CDNA Secretariat
Office of Health Protection
Department of Health and Ageing
GPO Box 9848 (MDP 14)
CANBERRA ACT 2601

National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy

CDNA is currently implementing the National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy (NCDSS), a project which was co-operatively funded by the Chief Health Officers and endorsed by the Australian Health Minister's Advisory Council. The NCDSS provides a strategic framework that will assist governments and public health officials to strengthen the co-ordination and planning of surveillance activities and to develop plans and priorities for responding to new or emerging infectious diseases.

The aim of the strategy is to reduce the social and economic impact of communicable diseases on the Australian population. The strategy focuses on improving disease surveillance to provide more comprehensive epidemiological data on which to base risk management and public health policy. The strategy aims to strengthen infrastructure to facilitate more timely and effective disease outbreak responses.

Current initiatives and activities under the NCDSS include:

A review of the notifiable diseases to produce a nationally consistent list;
Development of nationally uniform case definitions;
Development of a national surveillance system for foodborne diseases which will provide consistent national reporting, facilitate collection of more extensive data on foodborne pathogens, and provide an opportunity for national trend analysis;
Development of communicable disease outbreak control guidelines;
Development of National Surveillance Standards, to encourage nationally consistent surveillance, reporting, and data analysis;
Development of nationally consistent information and improvements to information dissemination for new and emerging diseases.

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Public Health Laboratory Network - Enquiries and information should be directed to:
PHLN Secretariat
Office of Health Protection
Department of Health and Ageing
GPO Box 9848 (MDP 14)
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Disease surveillance

Surveillance is fundamental to the prevention and control of communicable diseases. The Surveillance Policy and Systems Section of the OHP is the Commonwealth's primary data collection and coordination centre for many communicable diseases. The OHP also coordinates and contracts other agencies to collect data and/or conduct research on communicable diseases. Two such centres are the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR) and the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS).

National surveillance networks and centres facilitate early detection of disease as well as long-term epidemiological analysis. These in turn provide essential information for planning interventions, and form the foundation for future public health priorities and clearly focused evidence-based policy development and best practice. This philosophy is reflected in work carried out or co-ordinated through the OHP. As part of the National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy, States/Territories and the Commonwealth are improving current surveillance systems to build the capacity and infrastructure for future nationally consistent surveillance systems which will deliver more comprehensive data for all communicable diseases of public health significance.

Surveillance data is disseminated through the quarterly publication Communicable Diseases Intelligence (CDI). CDI publishes occasional reports on some national surveillance schemes, including the National Mycobacterial Surveillance System, the Australian Mycobacterial Reference Laboratory Network, the National Neisseria Network, OzFoodNet, Rotavirus surveillance and the Sentinel Chicken Scheme. Information on national surveillance schemes routinely reported in CDI are detailed in the document Surveillance systems reported in CDI.

Resources

Communicable disease surveillance

The Communicable diseases surveillance portion of the website provides information on communicable disease surveillance. It includes the quarterly publication Communicable Diseases Intelligence, data on Australia's nationally notifiable diseases, influenza surveillance reports (during the winter months), and other publicatios relating to communicable disease surveillance in Australia.

Communicable Diseases Intelligence is also available in hard copy format by contacting:

Communicable Diseases Intelligence
Mailing
Office of Health Protection
MDP 6
PO Box 9848
Canberra ACT, 2601
Telephone: +61 2 6289 2717
Facsimile: +61 2 6289 2600

or Email to: cdi.editor@health.gov.au

Policy and advice

As part of its role in developing best practice guidelines and policy on communicable diseases, the OHP has provided scientific and administrative support to a number of NHMRC working parties and continues to provide such support to the CDNA, PHLN, and other departmental working parties.

Priority areas for policy development or review are identified by the CDNA and dealt with in a variety of ways, such as expert working groups, specialist agencies contracted to develop specific policies and/or to investigate communicable disease problems, or by interdepartmental or cross Divisional committees. States and Territories can contribute to national policy development through the CDNA and specific consultation processes.

Information on individual communicable diseases and disease groups, and relevant activities being undertaken by this Division can be accessed by clicking on one of the individual diseases listed below.

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