Influenza Vaccinations

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What advice, if any, has the minister received from Professor Nicola Spurrier about the impact of the provision of a free flu vaccination program in South Australia, and will he publicly release that advice?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:33): I have just explained that. In fact, Professor Spurrier has been at a number of press conferences explaining this to the public as well. She has explained the reasons why the AHPC, in advice it released a couple of years ago and has consistently held since then, is saying to focus on those key groups, because that is where the evidence is. I think it is fair to say she is particularly concerned around the zero to five-year-old age bracket. It is an age bracket in which obviously kids may have not been exposed to the flu before. We see high levels of diagnosis of the flu in that age group and low levels of vaccination.

So we have focused a particular advertising campaign to parents in that group, based on her advice, and we have in fact taken steps to make sure that we can allow pharmacists for the first time to deliver the vaccine for that group, based on her advice as well. We will continue to listen to her advice and act on it.