May News Roundup

City of Edmonton Stockpiling Cold-fX For Pandemic Preparation
The city of Edmonton is now the first city in the world to make the decision to begin stockpiling an herbal supplement to help boost the immune system of essential workers ie, police, firefighters, medical staff etc. in the event of an influenza pandemic. It should be noted that the company (CV Technologies) that produces the Cold-fX immune booster is headquartered in Edmonton.

Bob Black, Edmonton's director of emergency preparedness, said in the CV Technologies press release that COLD-fX is another tool the city can use for pandemic preparedness. "There are so many unknowns in planning for a possible pandemic that anything we can do to be prepared makes sense," he said. "We need to take every reasonable precaution to help our emergency personnel stay on the job, so they can help others."

It should also be noted that Cold-fX has not been shown in any way to help ward off avian influenza. So this is strictly a precautionary move that the city of Edmonton likely feels has some potential upside, and little to no downside.

Business Development Bank of Canada Releases Online Pandemic Preparation Guide for Entrepreneurs
This is a good move by the BDC as many small businesses and entrepreneurs lack a 'business continuity' plan should a major medical crisis occur.

"An organization's ability to respond effectively to interruptions large and small is critical," said Bruce McConnell, Vice President, BDC Consulting. "A solid business continuity plan will minimize the financial and human impact of a crisis and allow Canadian companies to maintain critical operations when a pandemic or other serious emergency does strike."

You can access the BDC guide here:
www.bdc.ca/pandemic

Conference Board of Canada Hosts 2-Day Pandemic Preparedness Conference
In Toronto on May 15-16 both private and public sector leaders gathered to discuss a myriad of pandemic-focused issues in an effort to knowledge share, and bring more awareness to the issue of pandemic preparation. Hopefully the conference was well attended and more of these conferences will be planned across the country in the near future.

I'll leave you with one more ad from Florida's Department of Health. We really need a Canadian health campaign like this!

CIDRAP

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Recent Entries:
· Pandemic Planning Could Give Your Business An Edge
· Toronto Aims To Be Leader In Public Health Education
· FAO Issues Dire Warning: Indonesia Could Be Brewing Pandemic-Inducing Virus

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May News Roundup

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