Business and pandemic preparedness: From infection control to occupational medicine

Dear Sir,

The problem of pandemic influenza among the worker in common work place is the topic to be discussed in occupational medicine. Focusing on this issue, the recent report on business continuity and pandemic preparedness is very interesting. ^[1] Rebmann et al., ^[1] concluded that “many US businesses lack adequate pandemic plans.” Indeed, it should be the responsibility of the business owners to take prevention for their workers. This is the important topic in occupational medicine at present. However, it is usually seen that the health prevention provision to the workers is usually inadequate and considered low-quality. ^[2] In addition, the employee might have low education and they can have poor health care behavior. A recent report on a study among child care workers showed that most workers had poor knowledge and this could be the explanation for low influenza vaccination rate. ^[3] de Perio et al., ^[3] suggested that “employers should consider methods to maximize influenza vaccination of employees as part of a comprehensive influenza prevention program.” To achieve the goal of infection control among the workers, the workers have to be educated and the business owners have to take responsibility in providing sufficient facilities to promote good health of the workers. The legislation control by specific occupation Health Act might be the tool to control the nonresponsible business.

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/1755-6783.133761