To the Editor: As public health professionals, we strongly support Givney’s call for the creation of an Australian national authority for disease prevention and control.1 This proposal is by no means a new one,2 but its relevance has, if anything, increased with time. Such an authority would structure and coordinate responses to emerging disease threats, as well as ensure that Australia has the national public health infrastructure required to coordinate the increasingly complex strategies needed for disease surveillance more generally. Human papillomavirus (HPV) surveillance is a recent case in point.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Givney RC. A pandemic response to a disease of predominantly seasonal intensity [letter]. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 722-723. <MJA full text>
- 2. Australasian Epidemiological Association. Aids, cancer, infection, heart-disease. Does Australia need a centre for disease control? Symposium and workshop proceedings; 1987 28 Feb – 1 Mar; Canberra. Adelaide: AEA, 1987.
- 3. Markowitz LE, Hariri S, Unger ER, et al. Post-licensure monitoring of HPV vaccine in the United States. Vaccine 2010; 28: 4731-4737.
Julia Brotherton conducts HPV research funded by CSL and GlaxoSmithKline.