Few firms have plan or budget to handle flu pandemic: survey

Less than 10 per cent of local companies have earmarked extra funding for a flu pandemic, and just 35 per cent have business continuity plans for an outbreak, a survey has found.

This indicates 'an obvious lack of actual preparedness', according to Lai Kam-tong, president of the Institute of Human Resource Management, which surveyed 130 companies from 17 business sectors between late last month and the middle of this month.

The institute found that 34.6 per cent of companies had business continuity plans, while another 25 per cent had only informal guidelines.

Just 8.7 per cent had budgeted extra funds for a pandemic, while 81 per cent had not. The remainder were planning to earmark funds.

This is the second recent survey conducted on companies' pandemic preparedness. Earlier this year, the American Chamber of Commerce found that 60 per cent of the firms it polled had pandemic plans, but only one in 10 employees was aware of the plans. Mr Lai said the government should increase awareness in the business sector about the possible risks involved.

He said some companies felt helpless about mitigating the impact of a pandemic, with half saying there was not much they could do. Yet 72 per cent agreed that having a plan would fulfil their social responsibility.