At the third Business Continuity Plan (BCP) workshop on the 1st February 2011, representatives from 10 Government Ministries gathered to develop their strategies on how to continue functioning in the case of a pandemic outbreak.

BCPs determine the critical activities of an organization, the core personnel required to maintain them, and strategies to mitigate the effects of disruption during a disaster.  Their importance is clear to see with the recent emerging infectious disease outbreaks, such as SARS, Avian Influenza and H1N1 all impacting on the Southeast Asia region.

For healthcare systems to respond effectively to pandemics they depend on the functioning of other sectors, such as energy, water, telecommunications, transport and finance. The third workshop, facilitated by the National Emerging Infectious Disease Coordination Office (NEIDCO), with support from the UN, focused on creating operational BCPs for the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Electricity Du Laos), the National Authority for Posts and Telecommunications (NAPT), and Nampapa Lao (the Vientiane Water Authority). In addition 7 other Ministries received support to finalize their critical activities and personnel.

The drafting of the BCPs started in early 2010 and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2011. The UN is also supporting NEIDCO to better integrate the BCPs into the National Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness Strategy.

Although they address an influenza pandemic, the process that Ministries and sectors go through to develop the BCPs will be valuable for responding to any kind of emergency that affects an organization’s human resources, such as natural disasters, climate change events and security threats.