Pandemics – Addressing a Growing Threat to Businesses in Asia

Published on 23rd January 2020

For much of the past few weeks, headlines around the region have been dominated by the novel coronavirus, also known as Wuhan pneumonia. Despite advances in medicine and improved infection control practices, this developing outbreak along with the swine flu and Zika pandemics in the last decade stand as stark reminders of the dangers posed by rapidly spreading disease.

Although public health officials must lead much of the preventive and curative work needed to limit the effects of infectious diseases, organisations can manage their own risk by planning their response to protect their people and fiscal integrity. To effectively respond to these threats, businesses should take a two-pronged approach: establishing preparedness strategies and reviewing their insurance coverage.

Managing pandemic and epidemic risk

Marsh, in conjunction with Munich Re and Metabiota, a leading risk modelling organisation, have developed a report to assist with the management of pandemic and epidemic risk.

The report, Pandemic Readiness: Risk Finance and Mitigation Strategies, identifies the main challenges that organisations will face during a health crisis and looks at the different actions that risk professionals should take to mitigate these risks. It also outlines the industry-specific impacts on health care, education, hospitality and restaurants, and marine industries and highlights the need to develop clearly defined pandemic response escalation thresholds and resilient business continuity programs.

For more information, please contact Costa Zakis , Chief Operating Officer for Client Advisory Services at Marsh