Website of the Department of Health

Scientific evidence paper

The possibility of a worldwide influenza pandemic presents a real and daunting challenge to the economic and social wellbeing of any country and a serious risk to the health of its population. The Civil Contingencies Secretariat and the Department for Health have therefore placed a significant emphasis on planning and preparing for a pandemic now to ensure that the UK is well prepared to deal with a pandemic when it emerges.

We understand that public confidence in the Government's pandemic strategy depends on it being based on a credible and wide-ranging evidence base, which has been objectively analysed. This paper summarises this work. It aims to provide a 'snap-shot' of the available scientific evidence underpinning the spectrum of possible strategies to respond to pandemic influenza.

• Overarching Government strategy to respond to pandemic influenza: Cabinet Office analysis of the scientific evidence base (in Portable Document Format) (opens new window)