The Spanish Flu of 1918, the Asian Flu of 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu of 1968, all of which had their origins in bird flu, resulted in 40- to 50-million deaths. But new strains of avian-related viruses are potentially even more dangerous today. “Humans have no immunity to them,” said Dr. Michael Markus, a consultant in occupational medicine and travellers' health. “And as it jumps to other species that are closer to humans, it means the virus is getting more efficient.”
Markus was speaking at The Global Preparedness Forum, organized by the Canadian Churches Forum for Global Ministries. The need for faith-based organizations to develop a pandemic response policy is obvious. They are constantly sending missionaries into potential pandemic zones. Websites such as the World Health Organization and the Centre for Disease Control should be consulted. Consular access in the foreign country should be established, and lists of local medical providers should be created.
Although not specific to pandemics, the Presbyterian Church does have an emergency plan for its missionaries. If a threat is perceived, the Life and Missions Agency's general secretary and International Ministries' associate secretary will consult, taking into account advice from partners in the affected area along with governmental warnings. These two people will also meet with the executive director of PWS&D and the International Ministries' administrator, forming the Crisis Management Team. This consultation will determine whether missionaries can/should be evacuated, and how to go about it.
At the national office, the management team (comprising the three principal secretaries in finance, Assembly Office and the Life and Mission Agency) is responsible to work with the lead public health body whenever a health risk exists, and to have sufficient funding available to meet necessary needs. “We monitor advisories from the lead public health department, implement their recommendations and communicate with our staff,” said Rev. Rick Fee, on behalf of the church's management team.
The Presbyterian Church is also a part of the Canadian Council of Churches' National Advisory Group on Emergency Planning. Among other things, the group exists to help CCC-member churches prepare for carrying on their ministries in times of emergency, and to be prepared to offer practical, organized assistance to municipal authorities or the armed forces as requested.
Missionaries are informed that they should take responsibility for their own well-being, recognizing that they are often in a better position to know exactly what is going on at the local level and what actions they should take. “The threat of a future flu pandemic and the consequences that this might have for the wellbeing of our missionaries overseas must be taken seriously and should not be minimized,” said Ron Wallace, associate secretary for International Ministries. “At the same, time, however, it must be remembered that a flu pandemic is only one of many possible dangers, medical and otherwise, that our missionaries must deal with on an ongoing basis, including the possibility of civil and inter-religious strife, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a malaria pandemic that kills more than one in five persons in many countries, and resurgent strains of tuberculosis that are also a major source of mortality in many parts of the world.”
In the event of a pandemic, missionaries will likely be used as resources — especially as agents to control fear. “Missionaries are often spiritual leaders or consultants,” said Dr. Ken Gamble, a doctor at the Missionary Health Institute in Toronto, speaking at the seminar.
Preparation for a pandemic is a useful tool that can aid missionaries in teaching those they work with about health, hygiene and food preparation — especially in areas where people are more worried about having enough to eat than pandemic preparedness. “They can help develop environments that prevent the development of these problems,” said Gamble.
Markus said a full-blown pandemic would result in absenteeism from work of about 50 per cent. The public sector, schools and community centres will close, governments will run on a skeleton crew, even funerals and public gatherings for grieving may be stopped. It will be the private sector, according to Markus, that will “need to figure out how to keep society going,” and many businesses already have contingency plans on how to run essential services in the event of an outbreak. “Life as we know it will change,” he said.
