FEATURE PANDEMIC PLANNING
The ways in which companies plan and prepare for infectious disease outbreaks have been revolutionised by the Ebola outbreak, says global public health expert and International SOS medical director, Dr Irene Lai.
The recent spate of emerging infectious disease outbreaks, such as Ebola and MERS-CoV, has expanded the remit of pandemic planning and response to encompass diseases other than flu. The global C-suite executive is asking: are we adequately prepared to protect our employees, our communities and our overall business objectives when the next outbreak occurs?
Organisations are increasingly tied to a global supply chain and employees are more mobile than ever. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts there will be a further 50% growth in international assignments by 2020. International labour mobility plays a growing role in economic growth, competitiveness and development.
The increase of business travel and cross-border labour migration, as with all global mobility, can assist in spreading infectious diseases across a wide geographic area in a short amount of time. Regardless of where a company does business, if they have employees, they have risks.
A pandemic is a worldwide disease outbreak. Pandemics can occur when a “new” virus emerges that has the following properties:
• Humans have little or no immunity to it
• The virus can cause significant illness or death
• The virus can be spread easily from person to person
If these criteria are met, the new virus is likely to spread globally. The severity of the pandemic depends not only on the severity of the illness it causes, but also on the impact it has on communities.
Regardless of whether a disease gets to pandemic proportions, emerging infectious diseases like SARs, Ebola, and MERs-CoV can still seriously disrupt an organisation’s ability to fulfil their objectives if careful consideration has not been given
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to mitigating risks to staff and the communities in which they work.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa demonstrated that when such events occur, they do so with devastating effects. Likewise, the crisis showed that preventing, preparing for and responding to public health emergencies are not the responsibilities of a single stakeholder but instead such efforts require a coordinated and collaborative approach.
“THE INCREASE OF BUSINESS TRAVEL AND CROSS-BORDER LABOUR MIGRATION, AS WITH ALL GLOBAL MOBILITY, CAN ASSIST IN SPREADING INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACROSS A WIDE GEOGRAPHIC AREA.”
While most nations have made pandemic plans, the degree of preparedness and the extent to which all sectors of society are included in those plans vary greatly. Especially vulnerable are organisations that operate in or have employees who travel to developing countries. These countries are likely to have limited public health systems and less extensive preparedness for outbreaks of infectious diseases.
Authorities have urged everyone, including the business community, to prepare for the next pandemic. A much closer partnership with regional, national and international stakeholders, including multilateral health agencies, is essential in order to reduce the risks presented by health emergencies.
The Centre on Global Health Security is coordinating one such multi-agency
initiative focused on the extractive industry. The Infectious Disease Risk Assessment and Management (IDRAM) project aims to understand, assess and prepare for the risks posed to the sector by infectious disease outbreaks in collaboration with other stakeholders involved in disease outbreak preparedness and response.
Their findings so far suggest disease control and prevention strategies, including those for emerging infectious diseases, benefit not only the organisation, but also the wider community within which they operate. In addition, the coordinated investments and cooperation in preparedness planning results in more effective, and less expensive, responses to health emergencies.
The goal of pandemic planning is for organisations to be able to assess and respond appropriately to potential risks to their workers as part of their duty of care and to help assure the continuation of their operations.
Infectious disease and pandemic preparedness is a necessity for business continuity and the long term viability of operations. From a business perspective, these aspects are an integral component of any business continuity and risk management strategy. Organisations are advised to consider the economic and non- monetary consequences of outbreaks and to think about industry collaboration as part of core business strategy.
Often, early in outbreaks, limited information about the threat – or potential threat – leads to speculation and rumour. Staying informed and having an up-to-date pandemic business continuity plan provides a clear roadmap to reduce your risks in the early days of the unknown.
Pandemic planning is an organisation- wide initiative involving risk managers, human resources, occupational health practitioners, and the C-suite.
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