The AOC has announced a large scale immunisation program for Australian athletes competing at next year’s Beijing Olympics.

In the coming months about one thousand potential team members will be offered vaccinations for Hepatitis, Typhoid, Polio, Tetanus, Whooping Cough and Diphtheria, Measles-Mumps-Rubella and Influenza to avoid any infection that might have an adverse effect of their performance.

"This is simply a precautionary measure to ensure the athletes don’t fall ill before or during competition” said AOC President John Coates.

“We have a responsibility to provide our athletes with adequate protection while they compete for Australia at the Games.”

At the first Team Management Meeting in Sydney Coates revealed that the 2008 Australian Olympic Team would include a team of 50 specialist medical staff.

They form part of a massive Team of approximately 799 including 507 athletes and 292 support staff.

“Beijing is very hot and humid in August and there are concerns about air quality. How we can overcome these problems, as well as the cultural differences in China, are all part of our planning” Coates said.

“The organising committee in Beijing (BOCOG) has made air pollution a priority. They are working with the State Environmental Protection Administration to ensure good air quality during the Games and we expect factories will be closed and cars kept off the roads to minimise the pollution”.

Heading up the Medical Team is Melbourne doctor Peter Baquie.

“Beijing will introduce some medical challenges not encountered in recent Olympics but I have absolute faith in BOCOG’S planning and public health strategies to minimise these issues” he said.

Dr Baquie is working closely with each sport to implement a medical strategy well in advance of the Games. He is committed “to providing the highest care for our athletes”.

He has already formed two small advisory groups covering respiratory problems and infectious diseases in particular influenza including the threat of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu).

Each advisory group has a pool of specialist physicians in these areas. Baquie said the immunisation program would start this month as different teams will be competing in test events in Beijing throughout the year.

The process would take at least six months to complete and duties would be shared between the Team medical staff, medical officers attached to the national sporting federations, state sports institutions and local medical practitioners.

Each potential team member will be issued with a card on which to record vaccines given.

The AOC has also enlisted assistance from the TravelDoctor-TMVC group of travel medicine doctors in each capital city to also perform this role.

Doctor Baquie said food and water hygiene in Beijing were critical. He said BOCOG had given an assurance the water in the Olympic Village would be purified and they would provide bottled water for drinking.

He had no doubts about the standard of hygiene in the Village dining hall.

”BOCOG has assured us it will more than match the 4-5 star hotel standards in all Asian cities in terms of food and water safety,” he said.

AOC