European businesses not ready for potential flu pandemic
Businesses in Europe are not sufficiently prepared for a potential flu pandemic. This is the key finding of a new report entitled 'Business continuity planning and pandemic influenza in Europe', published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). After reviewing the governments of the 27 EU Member States plus Turkey, Norway and Switzerland as well as 13 independent advisory organisations, the LSHTM researchers conclude that guidelines and levels of advice given to businesses in the non-health sector are insufficient. Over a third of countries do not even offer advice at all, and only eight provided significant levels of advice. The analysis is based on the assumption that a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza could ignite a new flu pandemic. While the researchers acknowledge that great strategic and operational efforts have been made in order to prepare the public health systems for a potential outbreak, they also point out that the challenge of ensuring business continuity outside the health sector has by and large been overlooked. 'This has the potential to result in unequal levels and inconsistencies of preparedness in the business sector, with important implications for all of Europe,' explains Alexander Conseil, research fellow at LSHTM. The most vulnerable sectors include essential services such as banking, draining and sewerage, energy communications, water, transport and waste collection. These and other services might come under considerable pressure during a flu pandemic due to a loss of human resources, for instance: Estimates suggest that between 15 and 50% of employees will need an extra five to 14 days of sick leave in the case of a pandemic. Only ten countries out of the 30 assessed provide planning to support human resources. In addition to this oversight, the report identifies a number of further gaps in advice: - management of employees suspected to be ill at work; - no advice on general corporate stockpiling of antiviral medication; - no coherency of business continuity plans with national or World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic temporal phases; - external communication overlooked: - legal issues not addressed; - guidance regarding acquisition and distribution of personal protection equipment is confusing; - little advice on social distancing measures at the workplace; - lack of mechanisms to facilitate sharing best practices; - plans for business recovery after a pandemic are neglected. What is more, many countries rely on private consultancies to provide the much needed guidelines and advice. However, the fees those consultancies charge are unaffordable for many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. 'We suggest that public and private advisory organisations take immediate action to develop more comprehensive guidelines,' says Dr Richard Coker, reader in Public Health at the LSHTM. 'Moreover, guidance should be explicit about corporate social responsibilities and actions should be coherent with corporate strategic goals, operational planning, and national strategies.'
Countries
United Kingdom