CIDRAP partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to host the first-of-its kind national summit to prepare businesses for a flu pandemic. More than 300 people representing 200 companies, 38 states, and a combined annual revenue of $3 trillion attended the two-day summit. Speakers included Ted Koppel, Tommy Thompson, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt.
An informal electronic poll of attendees underscored the need to plan; only 18 percent of those businesses said their companies have a response plan for a global pandemic.
¿Anything we say before a pandemic sounds alarmist. Anything we say afterward is inadequate,¿ says Leavitt. ¿The reality is [a pandemic] will happen at some point in time.¿
Discussions focused on how to deal with a ¿just-in-time¿ economy that would mean no surge capacity of the critical supplies needed in a pandemic like medicine and masks.
Other potential problems include the breakdown of supply chains, collapse of Internet servers, and worker absentee rates as high as 30 percent.
CIDRAP developed take-away materials, including a 10-point checklist for business continuity planning. Attendees met in sector-specific breakout sessions to begin designing plans based on their unique needs.
¿Hope and despair are not strategies. And we can't sit here and say 'woe is me.' Comprehensive and serious planning is not optional,¿ says CIDRAP director Michael Osterholm.
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