Every year thousands of Australians catch the flu, or influenza. The costs of the flu to small businesses each year are significant, even though most people recover quickly and only take a few days off work. What if a strain of flu developed that was so severe, up to 50 per cent of your staff could not come in to work for weeks, either because they were sick or they were looking after family members. Hard as it may be to believe, this is what might happen if a human influenza pandemic (an outbreak of a highly pathenogenic influenza similar to bird flu) hits Australia.
The Australian Government has developed this booklet to help businesses understand what a pandemic is, the impact a pandemic might have on your business, and how important it is to have a business pandemic plan in place.
What is all the fuss about bird flu?
You might already know that scientists and health professionals are warning against a contagious virus currently affecting birds (such as chickens, geese and ducks) that is spreading across various countries overseas. There are also isolated cases of the virus spreading to humans which in some cases has been fatal. The strain involved in the current outbreak is called H5N1 and scientists and health professionals believe that there is potential for this influenza strain to mutate and cause a pandemic, although currently there is no evidence of efficient human to human transmission.
What is a pandemic?
A pandemic occurs when a new strain of influenza spreads around the globe, infecting many people at once. The reason it spreads quickly is that it is a new virus and people have no immunity. The World Health Organization suggests that this virus has the potential to infect 25–30 per cent of the world’s population.
How will it affect my business?
The very nature of an influenza pandemic in Australia will be unlike any other modern disaster.
A pandemic may:
- arise rapidly and spread quickly;
- make people very ill and many will likely die;
- generate unprecedented levels of fear and panic;
- occur in several waves, each lasting for several months;
- require government, business and many community agencies to be involved in a whole-of-society response;
- result in health care services not being able to provide direct care in some cases; and
- result in very high staff absence rates for some periods during the pandemic.
In the event of a human influenza pandemic occurring overseas, but not yet reaching Australia, there could be substantial reduction in people entering Australia because of border control measures to delay the spread of the pandemic to Australia for as long as possible.
With these factors in mind, businesses will need to develop contingency plans to manage the impact of a potential pandemic on their business.
The actions of both governments and businesses in Australia in preparation for a pandemic and during a pandemic will have a major impact on Australia’s economy and its ability to recover quickly.
What is the Government doing about a pandemic threat?
The Government is closely monitoring the situation overseas in conjunction with international agencies and health experts and assisting neighbouring countries to combat the threat of a pandemic. Australia is one of the most prepared countries in the world, but the Government is continually exploring further options that will assist preparations.
Since the emergence of avian influenza in Asia in 2003, the Australian Government has committed a total of $599 million (including funding from the 2006 Budget) on avian influenza and pandemic preparedness measures. Comprehensive plans and tools are in place including a national stockpile of medicines to use during a pandemic, strong surveillance networks and increased laboratory capacity so that diseases can be identified quickly, and contractual arrangements with vaccine manufacturers to ensure Australia has access to a vaccine as soon as possible.
The Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza, released in May 2006 by the Department of Health and Ageing, outlines the Australian Government’s health approach to managing an influenza pandemic in Australia. The main strategies are containment of the virus in the first instance and maintenance of critical infrastructure to support community services such as water, electricity and communications.
The management plan divides a pandemic into the six stages globally as detailed by the World Health Organization, and there are also six phases in Australia. Currently we have not yet reached Phase 1 in Australia, while overseas, Phase 3 has been reached. This means there have not been any effective human to human infections overseas and no cases reported in birds or humans in Australia. The situation is being monitored very closely.
Further work will be undertaken on possible border controls and restrictions and quarantine arrangements, if needed.
Visit www.health.gov.au/pandemic for more information.
National Action Plan for Human Influenza Pandemic
The Australian Government, state and territory governments and the local government sector are all contributing to a National Action Plan for Human Influenza Pandemic. This plan will bring governments together to develop nationally consistent measures to attempt to prevent pandemic influenza from entering Australia and to prevent human transmission of the virus. It will also identify a coordinated rapid response by all levels of government in the event of a human pandemic occurring. A pandemic influenza simulation exercise will take place in late 2006 to test elements of the National Action Plan.
How will I know what to do in an outbreak?
If an influenza pandemic strikes, health officials will issue information and warnings through the media, official websites and via the Department of Health and Ageing Communicable Disease Hotline 1800 004 599.
Strategies like ‘social distancing’ (i.e. limiting interaction among groups of people) will be encouraged. This means that people will be encouraged to stay at home and avoid public places where large numbers of people gather. Child care centres and schools might close temporarily as viruses spread rapidly among children in close contact with others.
Such possible closures and restrictions might have an impact on your business.
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