IBLF - Businesses cannot exist in a bubble

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Businesses cannot exist in a bubble - FT letter

20 December 2006

The following letter from Robert Davies, IBLF's Chief Executive Officer, was published in the Financial Times today:

Sir, Your report "Companies 'failing to prepare for pandemic' " (December 18) quotes an insurance industry study criticising companies for complacency in relying on uncertain insurance protection against significant losses to business continuity from potential pandemics, rather than taking action at supply chain and workforce level to minimise risk. While the avian flu pandemic risk failed to materialise this year, along with the $1,000bn-$2,000bn worst-case estimates of loss made by global health authorities, representing a 3.1 per cent to 4.8 per cent loss of global gross domestic product, risks will remain and intensify while globalisation speeds business engagement in poor countries with high health risks.

A business model to improve risk avoidance and promote corporate citizenship advocated by the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), with the encouragement of the UN System Influenza Co-ordinator and the World Health Organisation, has been proposed in Indonesia and advanced more widely. With the high cost of inaction in mind, this proposes a practical framework to engage business, not just at the workplace and in the value chain, but through collective action to build health system capacity, community outreach and social marketing of simple messages - such as the vital importance of hand-washing.

The emerging lessons about increasing pandemic risks are that business just cannot rely on insurance or creating a bubble around its operations, but must engage as responsible corporations in business models that integrate prevention with multi-stakeholder partnerships to mobilise business skills and resources to improve local health system effectiveness.

Robert Davies,
Chief Executive,
International Business Leaders Forum,
London NW1 4QP

Related Links
IBLF's Business Response to Bird Flu Risks

Contact
Claire Kilvert, Media and Communications Manager
Tel +44 (0)20 7467 3652, email claire.kilvert@iblf.org

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