Released on = April 2, 2007, 3:36 am

Press Release Author = Darin Phaovisaid/Kenan Institute Asia

Industry =

Press Release Summary = "Promoting Pandemic Influenza Preparedness for the Private
Sector" seminar in Bangkok Thailand emphasizes that government and business must
work together to develop effective preparedness plans in order respond to a
potential human influenza outbreak.

Press Release Body = Bangkok, April 2 - Government and business must work together
to respond to a potential human influenza outbreak, but most Thai businesses and
state enterprises need help to develop effective preparedness plans, senior
officials said Monday.

"Preparing for pandemic influenza is not only a responsibility of the government,"
said Dr. Thawat Suntrajarn, Director General of the Department of Disease Control.
"Public utilities, labor, banking, telecommunications, media and other sectors must
keep its employees safe from the pandemic flu, maintain the continuity of business
operations and ensure uninterrupted delivery of key public goods and services in the
event of an outbreak," he told participants at a workshop of planning for an
influenza pandemic.

"The private sector has begun to prepare, but it is not enough," Dr. Thawat said.
"Avian Influenza is a virus with a high mortality rate, so if it becomes easily
transmissible from human to human, the pandemic could be devastating."

To help companies develop effective plans, the Influenza Foundation of Thailand
(IFT), in partnership with the Thai Ministry of Public Health, the Department of
Disease Control and private companies such as Sanofi Pasteur, Roche, Esso, Thai
Airways, AIG and Shell set up the workshop entitled "Promoting Pandemic Influenza
Preparedness for the Private Sector." More than 230 private sector executives
participated in the three-day workshop to help develop plans to deal with an
influenza pandemic among businesses critical to Thailand's economy including
utilities, banking, energy, transportation, agribusiness, health and tourism
sectors.

"Lessons learned from past experience reveal that a well formulated and implemented
pre-pandemic plan will help reduce the impact of an outbreak," said Dr. Prasert
Thongcharoen, Chairman of IFT, at the seminar being held at the Miracle Grand
Convention Hotel April 2-4, 2007.

Dr. Prasert added, "Thailand has developed and is implementing a national pandemic
influenza preparedness plan. However, the plan focuses mainly on public health
preparedness, giving scant mention of the need for preparedness in other related
sectors."

Dr. Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, a consultant to the Ministry of Public Health, told the
workshop that there were various estimates of the impact of an influenza pandemic in
Thailand. One estimate, from an Israeli study, indicated that an estimated 8 million
Thais could need hospitalization.

He said that with only a 0.2% mortality rate, about 130,000 Thais could die from a
pandemic. He said businesses should plan to operate with one-third of their
employees to be unable to come in to work.

In key industries, such as tourism, revenue could decline by 80%, he said.

With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
under the Global Development Alliance (GDA) initiative, IFT is conducting
wide-scale dissemination of information to the private sector, with this seminar
being the first in a series of events that will be held throughout the year. The
GDA strategy aims to improve readiness and response capacity through public-private
partnerships in planning and preparedness, surveillance, outbreak response, and
communications.

The workshop focused on the importance of business continuity planning and provided
participants with tools and frameworks for formulating plans that are specific to
their business sector. Participants came from companies the utilities sector such as
TOT, CAT, and Thai Postal Company, from energy companies including PEA and EGAT,
from Thai and foreign commercial banks, and from chicken processing businesses.

"Projects such as these will enable Thailand's economy to continue to prosper, even
in the face of a potential pandemic," said Dr. John MacArthur, Infectious Diseases
Advisor of the General Development Office, USAID's Regional Development Mission in
Asia, which is funding the IFT along with contributions from the Ministry of Public
Health and the private sector.

Dr. MacArthur added, "With management support from the Kenan Institute Asia, the GDA
program has been instrumental in forging a public-private alliance between IFT,
Thailand's Ministry of Public Health, and private sector partners under the
'Building Partnerships for the Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza and
Pandemic Influenza in the Greater Mekong Subregion (PAI)' program"

The Kenan Institute Asia (K.I.Asia) is a Bangkok-based non-profit development
foundation working to build sustainable competitiveness in the Greater Mekong
Subregion. It is supporting six GDAs in Thailand and Vietnam to prepare for and
address pandemic and avian influenza.

Web Site = http://www.kiasia.org

Contact Details = For more information, contact Darin Phaovisaid, Consultant -
Strategic Corporate Citizenship, Kenan Institute Asia at darinp@kiasia.org or
+66-2-229-3131 ext. 233.