A Collaborative Approach to Infectious Disease Preparedness: The IDRAM Initiative

Abstract

As the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has demonstrated, outbreaks of infectious diseases pose a significant threat to the extractive industry. Extractive companies often operate in emerging infectious disease (EID) ‘hotspots’. The nature of extractive projects in these hotspots causes greater interaction between animals and humans which in turn, is thought to create a greater risk of infectious outbreaks. The Infectious Disease Risk Assessment and Management (IDRAM) initiative supports the extractive industry to better understand, assess and mitigate this risk through fostering partnerships between the industry, public health systems and other relevant stakeholders. During 2014 and 2015, IDRAM field tested planning and audit tools among four leading mining companies in the Katanga province, Democratic Republic of Congo; produced a qualitative study to better understand the industry's perception of EID-related risks; and conducted three desktop outbreak simulation exercises involving industry and other stakeholders. An ongoing economic evaluation study will quantify the economic impact of the Ebola outbreak at the company level. This study will focus on a single large mining company that has continued to operate throughout the epidemic. A literature review exploring past and current collaborative efforts between extractive industries and national health systems related to health emergencies is also being carried out. This will provide strong evidence-based best practice for effective partnership. These activities have highlighted that although the industry recognizes a need for collaborative approaches to managing EID risks, its response remains focused "inside the fence" with an emphasis on limiting contact between humans, wildlife and domestic animals and maintaining hygiene standards. As a result, companies are still vulnerable to disease outbreaks, due to a lack of coordination and engagement with stakeholders "outside the fence". In public health crises such as the recent Ebola outbreak, no single organization has the capacity to deal with global outbreaks on its own. Through future activities, IDRAM will facilitate oil and gas sector's contribution to national preparedness and response capabilities for EIDs and pandemics, thereby contributing to health system strengthening and improving the sustainability and coordination of disease control efforts in countries where the sector is active.

Crisis and Risks in Engineering Project Management: A Review

“…Watremez et al (2016); Wagner et al (2016). Risk analysis Kesavan (2016); Viliani et al (2016); Kostuk et al (2006); Li and Knights (2009); Ávila Filho et al (2016).…”

“…Project management in crisis times Kesavan (2016); Viliani et al (2016); Power et al (2013); Rousseaux and Lhoste (2008); Cabal and Erlich (2018).…”

“…Finally, Viliani et al (2016) assessed the risk management in infectious diseases of the ore mining industry, analyzing and mitigate the risks of contagion, promoting partnerships between the industry, public health systems, and other relevant stakeholders. Thus, they realized that preventive and effective measures for the continuation of mining services included: provision of primary medical services and partnerships for the treatment of more serious cases, easy access to guidelines to avoid contagion, conducting epidemiological surveillance, reporting diseases notifiable to local health services, perceptions of vulnerability to the external environment, the existence of strong structures and management systems, among other actions.…”

A review of the role of digitalization in health risk management in extractive industries – a study motivated by COVID-19

“…2.1 Preparedness to recent infectious disease outbreaks EI sectors have been investing to improve health, safety and wellness in the workplace. This includes organizational strategies and protocols needed in different stages of an emerging JEDT 20,2 infectious disease (EID) outbreak (Asad et al, 2019;Kumar and Krieger, 2018;Diara et al, 2014;Viliani et al, 2016;Schneider et al, 2015;Flynn et al, 2012). Previous experiences of the MERS and H7N9 outbreaks led ExxonMobil to develop an epidemic management model for organizational responses (Diara et al, 2014;Schneider et al, 2015).…”

“…Various studies highlighted the critical role of business partnerships in protecting global mobile workforces (Diara et al , 2013; Viliani et al , 2016; Schneider et al , 2015; Nabizadeh et al , 2021). Internal collaborations between the operators, supply chain companies, medical units and security, health and environmental organizations are necessary to share reliable information and produce accurate immediate responses to EIDs (Diara et al , 2013).…”