NZ among best prepared for bird flu, says minister

New Zealand is one of the best-prepared countries in the world for bird flu, says new Health Minister Pete Hodgson.

"We are up there with the best," he said.

As documents began to spread across departments, the detailed level of the planning would become increasingly clear to the public, said Mr Hodgson.

But it would be "silly" to suggest this meant there was nothing more to be done.

"This thing will rock and roll on us if it arrives and we will need to move and shift a lot."

As Health Minister Mr Hodgson will play a key role in public health planning for the potential arrival of the disease, but he said yesterday that no one minister was in charge of preparations and he doubted this would change.

The United Nations' most senior bird flu expert, David Nabarro, this week called on every country to appoint a Cabinet-level minister to co-ordinate the response to avian flu.

But Mr Hodgson said: "The approach the New Zealand Government has taken is that we are all in charge of it.

"The UN has given us a 'big country' answer where maybe that is the right thing to do. But New Zealand can manage whole-of-government issues better than most other countries. We are small, we are not federal and we are well-warned."

Mr Hodgson said his predecessor, Annette King, had been one of the "most successful" Health Ministers.

"My first job, therefore, is to continue what she started".