European Businesses Not Properly Advised on How to Prepare for Flu Pandemic

A new report by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found huge gaps across Europe in the level of advice businesses are given to prepare for a possible flu pandemic.

According to an article on the Physorg.com website, the report, entitled “Business Continuity Planning and Pandemic Influenza in Europe,” surveyed 30 governments across the European Union. Of those surveyed more than one third offered no advice at all and only eight provided significant levels of advice.

The study also found that for most countries, much of the guidance relies on private consultancies. However, such firms charge fees for their services, which are unaffordable for many businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises.

“We suggest that public and private advisory organizations take immediate action to develop more comprehensive guidelines,” Dr Richard Coker, Reader in Public Health at LSHTM and one of the authors of the report, told the publication. “Moreover, guidance should be explicit about corporate social responsibilities and actions should be coherent with corporate strategic goals, operational planning and national strategies.”

The report also found that advice is lacking and inconsistent in many areas that are crucial to ensure preparedness in case of a pandemic. Only 10 countries provide planning to support human resources and the range of estimates suggests that between 15 – 50 percent of employees will need to take an extra five to 14 days sick leave in the event of a pandemic.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.physorg.com/news132399678.html