Australian medical chiefs discuss Ebola preparedness

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The country’s chief medical officers will meet today to discuss Australia’s preparedness to deal with any Ebola case.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for a review of the hospital procedures in the wake of the latest Ebola developments in the United States.

Health Minister Peter Dutton yesterday toured Royal Brisbane Hospital, one of several major Australian hospitals that would handle any local Ebola case.

He rejected suggestions Australian health authorities were not ready for a case here.

“I am very disturbed by comments… that suggest that our country is not prepared for an Ebola virus if we get a case present to our emergency departments or elsewhere across the country,” he said.

“We are as prepared as any developed nation to deal with this virus and the risk to our country is very, very low.”

Mr Dutton said Australia was constantly reviewing the situation and he would be joining today’s meeting of state and federal chief medical officers.

“They review the responses, they look at internationally what’s taking place, they look at the advice from the WHO,” Mr Dutton said.

“Our own Chief Medical Officer here in Australia sits on the board responding in the WHO so he is up-to-date with all of the available information.

“So I think we should be assured that we have the best response possible for a developed world. There are lessons to be learned out of Texas and indeed Spain, and we need to look at the training that’s provided to the nurses and to the doctors that are using the personal protective equipment.”

Medical teams could still be sent to West Africa: Dutton

Mr Dutton also kept open the possibility that Australian medical teams could still be sent to West Africa to help fight the Ebola crisis.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously ruled out sending Australian medical teams to Ebola hotspots, saying it would be “irresponsible”.

The Government insists experts do not believe those who caught the virus would be able to survive the 30-hour evacuation flight.

But as the outbreak worsens, Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek has written to the Government urging it to urgently dispatch health professionals to the affected region.

However, Mr Dutton said the Government was still examining how the situation was evolving in West Africa and he called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to “rein in” Ms Plibersek.

“What Tania Plibersek is saying is that she’s taken the advice, which says that we cannot provide that in-country support for West Africa or repatriate the affected workers,” he said.

“We can’t provide that guarantee and yet at the same time having received that advice, Tania Plibersek is saying that we should send health workers into harm’s way.

“We’ve had discussions… with other Europeans but in the end these countries will want to guarantee support for their own health workers.

“It is very difficult in that circumstance to guarantee priority, or to give us guarantees about support for health workers.”