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DMTC Limited has announced the commencement of the National Health Security Readiness Assessment of medical countermeasures and related equipment and technologies in Australia – extensive consultation will be undertaken with industry, the research sector and government agencies.
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Previous assessments were undertaken in 2012 and 2017 by teams of experts including Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) and CSIRO personnel, while the next assessment process had been scheduled for 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a request from government agencies for it to be brought forward with an expanded scope.
The assessment will focus on the capacity of Australian manufacturing and supply chains and will include a detailed examination of Australia’s capability and capacity for research, development, manufacture and distribution of priority products and solutions to contribute to sovereign resilience and national health security. It is expected to be completed in mid-2021.
DMTC’s head of health security Dr Leigh Farrell explained, "In responding to – but also learning from – the COVID pandemic, this is a critical moment in which to examine progress, assess the current health of the sector in Australia, and inform the development of policy and program priorities for investment in the near and longer term."
The scope will now go beyond medical countermeasures to include Australia’s in-country capacity with regard to personnel protective equipment (PPE), medical devices, hazard management, modelling, surveillance and sensing systems.
"In addition, this national assessment will, for the first time, use an integrated and secure digital platform which will enable real-time updates and provide an accurate and validated view of sovereign expertise and industrial capability to respond to emerging threats," Dr Farrell added.
The NHSRA will be led by Dr Farrell and Dr Felicia Pradera, the program leader for the Medical Countermeasures initiative at DMTC. Dr Pradera was a co-author of the 2012 and 2017 assessments.
The Medical Countermeasures initiative led by DMTC (formerly the Defence Materials Technology Centre) addresses priorities for military health and broader public, regional and national health security threats. Established with seed funding from CSIRO and Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund, the Medical Countermeasures initiative is guided by a senior stakeholder group with representatives from relevant Australian government agencies.
"DMTC’s relationship with Defence and other agencies provides an agile, scalable mechanism for building sovereign industrial capability in priority areas, and for addressing and remediating specific industrial, manufacturing or technology-related capability gaps," DMTC CEO Dr Mark Hodge said.
The NHSRA is a detailed examination of Australia’s capability and capacity for research, development, manufacturing, supply chain resilience and distribution of priority products and solutions that contribute to national health security.
Multiple government agency stakeholders were consulted in the development of this assessment, including stakeholders from the Department of Health, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Defence Science and Technology Group, Army, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre and MTPConnect.
