FOREWORD

In general, a foreword is usually written by one person. However, in the case of this book there are two contributors – one with expertise in epidemiology and the other in business continuity. To gain a good understanding of the potential effects that a pandemic can have on the global populations along with the inevitable knock-on effects on organisations, it is necessary to have an appreciation of what the pandemic threat actually is. It is therefore very fitting that Dr Tanya Melillo MD, Head of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit in Malta and Owen Gregory MSc BA (Hons) MBCI MBCS have each contributed towards this foreword.

PART 1:

I became acquainted with Robert Clark through a mutual colleague only recently and had not read any of his books until now. ‘Business continuity and the pandemic threat’ is a book that needs to be read by all those involved in preparing their organisation to survive a pandemic or any other threat caused by a microbe (viral or bacterial) that will have a direct impact on the health of a nation.

Historic records indicate that influenza pandemics have been amongst us for many centuries. There is no doubt that there will be pandemics in the future either related to influenza or some other microbe. It is not so much a matter of whether it will occur but rather when it will occur. Today, globalisation affects not only economies but also the risk of spread of disease. In today’s increasingly interconnected world, we remain very vulnerable to the spread of an infectious disease, as a virus can spread all over the world in 48 hours.

Business continuity is about preparing and implementing a plan intended to ensure that the organisation’s critical functions continue to operate during a major disaster like a pandemic and are able to recover and return in the shortest possible time to business as usual once the disaster is over. The ring is as strong as its weakest link and so the emphasis on preparedness planning must be targeted towards ensuring that all the necessary resources are available to safeguard the operations of the organisation’s key services or products.

Part 1 of this book explains in a very clear and readable way what pandemics are and which organisms caused them. Part 2 delves into different ways an organisation can continue to provide its core services during a pandemic especially when the workforce may be compromised. The case studies provide food for thought to all those responsible for preparedness planning for their organisation as they tackle all aspects within an organisation that need to be factored in within business continuity.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Clark’s book which is written in a style that makes it easy for anyone to understand without requiring a background in medicine or business. I have been involved in disaster management planning for the past ten years and yet I still found this book both enlightening and extremely informative.

Quoting Benjamin Franklin ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’.

Dr Tanya Melillo MD, MSc(Dist), PhD

PART 2:

Having known Rob Clark for several years, and spoken to him on numerous occasions about the many aspects of the business continuity world – the breadth of knowledge, analysis of the subject and the well-balanced presentation of this volume comes as no surprise.

In December 1918, just as the conflict of the First World War had finished, the “Spanish Flu” developed and was carried home by the soldiers of many nations returning from the fighting. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported on:¹

… a year in which developed a most fatal infectious disease causing the death of hundreds of thousands of human beings. Medical science for four and one-half years devoted itself to putting men on the firing line and keeping them there. Now it must turn with its whole might to combating the greatest enemy of all–infectious disease.

The “Spanish Flu” claimed the lives of some 50 million lives worldwide and almost one hundred years later there still remains a concern that a similar flu outbreak, with our more highly populated and more predominantly city-based planet with such intertwined and mobile populations, may cause the death of ten or twenty times more. And, despite the advances in medical science, the threat of an all-infectious disease, coupled with the increased threat of antimicrobial resistance², raises the potential of devastating effects in the event of an outbreak.

There are differing opinions as to whether a pandemic is overdue. In 2007, reporting via the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, Sandman³ identified the, ‘shortest gap between pandemics is 3 years; the longest so far is 56 years’. In fact there are various diseases proliferating even now although the degree of morbidity and mortality they present are key factors which determine how much of a threat they present. Some diseases have the potential to ultimately develop into a life endangering pandemics resulting in devastating consequences on the population along with both the public and private sectors alike that depend upon them.

The complexity of the World with its increasing dependency upon global markets and economies means that even a localised endemic outbreak could cause the ripples that would be felt over a wider area. They may be confined to a city, country or region (e.g. the 2002–2003 SARS outbreaks and the West African 2014–2015 Ebola crisis etc.) but they can generate ripples in trade and associations further afield that could be considered symptomatic of a pandemic. In fact the SARS outbreak was referred to as a global economic tsunami.

Is it sensible to rely solely on the Governments or local authorities to mitigate the effects of pandemic to you, your society and your organisation? The answer is hard to assess on the information publically available and this will undoubtedly vary from country to country. However, evidence from recent worldwide governmental failures to meet other, seemingly more manageable, crises would suggest that consideration of your own planning and mitigation is preferable than being totally reliant on others. Organisations that are unprepared to face a pandemic may place themselves in serious jeopardy and simply struggle to survive.

This informative book is written in an easy going and conversational manner, but the message it brings to the table is critical to understanding the meaning of any forthcoming pandemic threat and considerations of how to mitigate the effects, where possible, to you and your organisation

Owen Gregory MSc BA (Hons) MBCI MBCS

¹ Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, 1918, 71(26))

² The World Health Organisation, Fact sheet N°194, April 2015

³ Sandman P M (2007) ‘A severe pandemic is not overdue - it’s not when but if’.