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Shepell·fgi and Rexall Collaborate to Support Business in Pandemic Preparation
Toronto, June 26 /CNW/ - Two leading organizations in the Canadian marketplace today announced an alliance to provide an integrated solution to support business pandemic preparation.
"Shepell·fgi is committed to supporting the health of productivity of organizations and employees," says Rod Phillips, CEO of Shepell·fgi. "Pandemic influenza is a clear threat to both health and productivity. Many organizations have been planning how to reorganize work during a pandemic but few have spent enough, if any time considering the need to protect the employees that have to be at work and how to proactively support their productivity. Our collaboration with Rexall and the Rexall family of pharmacies, provides for a full-circle pandemic solution for organizations across Canada. This is an important development in the business community."
"Our focus is on pharmacy and the health of our patients - our comprehensive work in pandemic preparedness and employee health programs is an extension of our commitment to patient-centred pharmacy care," said Andy Giancamilli, CEO, Katz Group Canada Ltd./Rexall. "Antiviral medication is critical to any pandemic preparedness plan. We've leveraged Rexall Direct, our national prescription mail-order service, pharmacy innovation, and our existing relationships in pharmaceuticals and distribution to deliver Rexall Pandemic Prescription Services, a seamless program for organizations looking to enhance protection for their employees. With our Shepell·fgi alliance, we're in an even better position to offer a proactive employer-centric solution that is critical to any pandemic emergency preparedness plan."
Shepell·fgi and Rexall Pandemic Prescription Services offer the only one-stop solution for implementing antiviral medication: from needs assessment to process management to dispensation. The service is available nationally and includes medication dispensation and delivery to all employees from head office to remote employees.
"We have spent a great deal of time researching the impact of pandemic and looking at viable strategies," says Paula Allen, Vice President of Shepell·fgi's Health Solutions and Research Group. "Pandemic is a threat to business continuity, but it also has implications for the Occupational Health and Safety Act, The Canada Labour Code, The Employment Standards Act's emergency leave provisions and The Personal Health and Information Protection Act. In terms of options to support employee health, social distancing, health and hygiene programs, respirator masks, gloves and anti-viral medication all have merit, but more than one must be used. One needs to consider the fact that only antiviral medication is sustainable 24 hours a day. That is important since pandemic peaks last several days and weeks. Human error and the practical challenges will certainly compromise some of the other strategies.
In addition to health, employee behaviour will be impacted by pandemic, says Allen. A recent survey of 2,000 workers showed the impact of an antiviral medication strategy on employee behaviour. In this study (Leger, 2007) 45% of workers said that they would not feel comfortable reporting to work if someone in their city had pandemic flu. If an employer provided medication to support flu prevention, however, the number that did feel comfortable increased to 90%. This got our attention and was the final piece of evidence we needed to move forward in this collaboration.
"Collaborations to enable the delivery of important services, such as the implementation of an antiviral medication strategy, should be applauded," says Jim L. Hall, vice president sales and marketing at Roche Canada, the Canadian distributor of the antiviral medication Tamiflu(R). "Roche Canada applauds such collaborations as it may help Canadian corporations better prepare for an influenza pandemic."
"This collaboration between Shepell·fgi and Rexall will enable Canadian businesses to better prepare for the potentially devastating effects of an influenza pandemic," said Dr. Rav Kumar, Vice President, R & D Operations, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), "GSK is committed to working with Shepell·fgi and Rexall to help Canadian organizations to plan for - and implement - a diversified antiviral stockpile."
While antivirals continue to be available, during an official influenza pandemic supply may be severely limited.
About Shepell·fgi
Shepell·fgi is Canada's leading provider of workplace health and
productivity services, including prevention-focused Employee Assistance Programs, Health and Disability Management, Organizational Health and Global Services. The company services over six million employees and their families across Canada, the United States and internationally. Shepell·fgi helps organizations maintain healthy employees and healthy workplaces.
The Shepell·fgi Research group, a division of Shepell·fgi, has a mandate to educate employers and business leaders on physical, mental and social health issues as these factors impact employees, their families and their workplaces. The Shepell·fgi Research Group offers a precise understanding of health and wellness trends by conducting sector and issue-based analysis. Since 2004, the Shepell·fgi research group has published thirteen issues based reports and seven sector based reports.
Click here for our summarized profile
About Rexall
Among the most trusted names in Canadian pharmacy, Rexall is the flagship banner for Katz Group and the Rexall family of pharmacies. Canadian owned and operated, Katz Group is among North America's leading pharmacy groups and Canada's largest integrated retail pharmacy network.
In addition to pharmacy banners such as the Rexall family of pharmacies, Katz Group's holdings include Rexall Direct, Canada's national mail-order pharmacy, Drug Trading Company Limited - Canada's oldest and largest independent pharmacy retail group, ProPharm Limited, a pharmacy systems software/hardware development and technical service and support provider, as well as Rexall divisions Rexall Specialty and Rexall Health Services - dedicated to progressive pharmacy care and services. For more information on Rexall visit www.rexall.ca.
For further investor information, please contact:
Stephanie Baumann
Senior Manager, Marketing Communications
Shepell·fgi
Phone: (416) 355-5609
Email: sbaumann@shepellfgi.com
Michelle Lee
Director, Corporate Relations
Rexall
Phone: 1-800-916-2226
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