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Canadian companies share pandemic plans

Only 4% have set up programs

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Microbix Biosystems Inc. was well into its preparations for a possible pandemic when officials at the Toronto-based virology company began asking their suppliers what they were doing to prepare for a potential outbreak.

They received a number of blank stares in response.

The absence of concrete pandemic response plans among its suppliers led President and Chief Executive Officer William Gastle to the realization that many Canadian companies were not as prepared for a possible pandemic as Microbix, so the company decided to make its plan available for free to other organizations in the hope that this would spur them into action.

"If companies don't have a plan in place when the pandemic hits, it's too late," Mr. Gastle said. "They're exposed."

The need for Canadian companies to take the initiative to prepare for a possible pandemic, such as an avian flu outbreak, is evident in a recent survey by the Conference Board of Canada in Ottawa that showed that only 4% of Canadian organizations have developed concrete plans to deal with such an event. The survey, released in June, found that 71% are working on a plan, but 80% of those started the work only within the last year, which means that they are in the early stages of developing pandemic plans. In addition, a sizeable number of companies-25%-do not have a pandemic plan and are not working on one.

A key reason for the lack of pandemic preparation in Canada is the absence of an immediate threat, said Christopher Hallamore, senior research associate and the author of the Conference Board's report on pandemic preparedness.

"We have not yet seen an avian flu outbreak in North America, and that has not really brought it home for most organizations that this is a possibility and we need to prepare for it," Mr. Hallamore said.

Another contributing factor is that Canadian organizations are finding it difficult to gauge the impact of a possible pandemic since the last major outbreak of influenza in this region occurred in 1968. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto in 2003 affected 438 people, 44 of whom died. In contrast, the government agency Health Canada estimates that a flu pandemic could claim between 11,000 and 58,000 lives.

"It's hard for people to conceptualize when they haven't seen it and when the outbreaks happen so far away from us," Mr. Hallamore said.

Complacency, though, is a mistake that Canadian employers can not afford to make since a pandemic in Canada is inevitable, experts say.

"We're all living on borrowed time because we know it has happened in the past and will happen in the future," Mr. Gastle said.

While the vast majority of Canadian companies are ill-prepared for a pandemic, a few organizations have taken the lead in developing plans and have publicly shared them with others.

Microbix developed and implemented a pandemic response plan to protect its employees and its business operations that is divided into four levels, each of which triggers a different response. The company is currently at Level 1, which indicates that there is a cluster of infections in related individuals somewhere in the world, though the disease is not being spread by casual contact.

At this alert level, employees traveling to areas where there have been infections, but with minimal human-to-human spread of the disease, must carry personal protection equipment such as masks, sanitizers, gloves and protective eye wear in case the company raises the alert level. And employees traveling to these areas must remain in home quarantine for 48 hours after returning to Canada and be monitored for flu-like symptoms.

Depending on the spread of the infection, the alert levels would be raised, triggering additional precautions under the Microbix plan.

Alcan Inc., a Montreal-based producer of aluminum and packaging materials, last year developed an avian flu response plan that covers everything from screening measures to stockpiling medical supplies to telecommuting and foreign travel policies, Michelle Adams said in an e-mail statement. Ms. Adams is a consultant in the company's media relations department and also is a member of the company's avian flu committee.

A key element of Alcan's plan to manage a pandemic situation was the development of an extensive communications plan that included the implementation of a dedicated e-mail database to send information and receive feedback. All avian influenza-related documents, in 13 languages, were posted on company intranet sites.

Although companies such as Alcan have recognized the importance of having a solid communications plan in place in the event of a pandemic, more than 40% of companies have not considered how they will communicate with employees during an outbreak, the survey found.

Thirty percent of survey respondents without a pandemic plan indicated that they would rely on existing business continuity and/or emergency preparedness plans should a pandemic arise. This is problematic because these plans are usually designed to address an event that is instantaneous or lasts only a few days, while a pandemic can last for several weeks or months, experts say.

Having a detailed plan to manage the unique circumstances triggered by a pandemic is important, experts say. "If everybody is prepared, they can minimize the impact on themselves and their companies," Mr. Gastle said.