We're being told New Zealand is not ready for a pandemic.

Next year marks one hundred years since the 1918 flu pandemic which killed one percent of our population.

Professor of Public health, Michael Baker, says the level of threat is rising and there are more pandemic diseases globally.

"We really need a major stocktake of New Zealand's capacity in this area because you do need a large critical mass of scientists and support staff with the right expertise."

Michael Baker says he 's worked in this area for 25 years and our capacity has decreased over that time.