‘Review of the impact of the Pathology Sector Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic’ report launch

The peak body representing Australia’s private pathology industry, Australian Pathology has today launched the ‘Review of the impact of the Pathology Sector Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic’ report. Australian Pathology engaged consulting firm, Deloitte to conduct the review and develop the report.

Australian Pathology CEO, Liesel Wett, said, “The existence of Australia’s strong private pathology sector to rapidly scale testing capability and the collaboration between public and private healthcare providers was a significant contributor to the country’s pandemic containment strategy.”

“The report details the extensive impact the private pathology sector had, how the sector achieved this, and how the pathology response in Australia compared internationally”, said Ms Wett.

Australian Pathology President Mark Neeham said, “Our members worked extremely hard to deliver essential services to all Australians and the results of this are evident throughout the report.”

Key data and statistics highlight how:

  • The Australian pathology sector collectively provided 73 million PCR tests from April 2020 to June 2022. Approximately 70% of all PCR tests undertaken in Australia were performed by private pathology providers.
  • Australia is one of only a small number of comparable countries to have kept cases and deaths at a relatively low level, particularly prior to the widespread availability of effective COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Early in the pandemic, Australia had one of the lowest case fatality rates in the world (0.14%). This was 6-8 times lower than comparable jurisdictions (U.S 1.1%, Canada 1.06%, U.K 0.87% -Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre).

“The report also provides a clear understanding of how vital pathology will continue to be as we move into the post-COVID-19 era. Pathology will be fundamental in supporting improved diagnostics, life-long personalised wellness management, genomic based therapies, and public health protection,” said Mr Neeham.

 

Downloads:

‘Review of the impact of the Pathology Sector Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic’ Overview PDF. Download Here.

‘Review of the impact of the Pathology Sector Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic’ Full Report PDF. Download Here.

 

Media enquiries:

Liesel Wett
CEO, Australian Pathology
P: 02 6282 2277