Pandemics – be prepared

CII Introduction: At the beginning of the new millennium the issue of pandemics was a hot topic. With outbreaks in the Far East of SARS and then avian flu the media was awash with debate on what would happen if something similar hit the UK and questions around how well prepared we are. As we come to the end of the decade this popular interest has died down considerably suggesting that the risk has gone away. In this Thinkpiece Trevor Maynard, manager of emerging risks at Lloyd’s, shows that this is far from the case and that, based on past experience, at some point a pandemic is inevitable.[...]