Australian CDC must be ‘transparent, trusted and independent’

Pharma News: The COVID-19 Inquiry report has emphasised the urgent need to finalise the establishment of the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Federal Health Minister, Mark Butler MP, underscored this priority, stating, “The interim Australian CDC will continue to operate as part of the Department of Health and Aged Care until the launch of the independent CDC. This is expected to be on 1 January 2026, pending passage of legislation through federal parliament. The headquarters of the Australian CDC will be located in Canberra.”

Public Health Association of Australia CEO, Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, said “The Australian Government has announced it will fund a permanent CDC with $251m over the next four years, and a commitment to ongoing funding. At roughly $60m per annum, it is a modest but vitally important launching point from which the CDC should grow”

The inquiry report stressed that the Australian CDC must be “transparent, trusted and independent” and that its “role and functions should be codified in legislation to ensure it is independent and skill based”. This is essential in light of the Inquiry report exposing deep erosion of public trust in government.

Adjunct Professor Slevin added, “The potential of a permanent CDC is too important to be left to the whim of the government of the day. It’s also vital that once established, the CDC’s scope is expanded to cover non-communicable diseases as many are preventable. They diminish our quality of life, and they’re expensive to manage.”

Minister Butler said “The first priority of the CDC will be to establish a comprehensive, joined up data and surveillance system in partnership with states and territories, but to have a single, comprehensive real time data and surveillance system.”

In support of this renewed focus, Australian Medical Association (AMA) President Dr Danielle McMullen, remarked “State and territory governments need to get behind the CDC. We need a functional CDC to be reassured that Australia is equipped to tackle the next pandemic. Australia is the only OECD country without a CDC or equivalent and we need it urgently. This can’t be a piecemeal exercise.”

In reimagining healthcare across the entire patient journey, Health Industry Hub^TM is the only one-stop-hub uniting the diversity of the Pharma, MedTech, Diagnostics & Biotech sectors to inspire meaningful change.

The Health Industry Hub^TM content is copyright protected. Access is available under individual user licenses. Please click here to subscribe and visit T&Cs here.