Pandemic planning lags in North America.

Maybe it's a simple matter of proximity to the disease, but North American life insurance companies lag behind their international counterparts in their preparation for a possible avian influenza pandemic. That's according to LOMA, the insurance research group once known as the Life Officers Management Association.

The LOMA-sponsored survey found that about one-third of North American life insurers have plans in place to address a flu pandemic. In contrast, more than half of life insurers elsewhere have pandemic programs. Asian companies were particularly likely to have formulated such plans.

LOMA's survey was distributed to its members in North America and in the rest of the world. There were 155 responses, more than one-quarter of which were from outside North America, chiefly from Asia.

In general, pandemic response plans differ from ordinary disaster recovery and business continuity plans in their emphasis on human resources and on work from home. Many North American life insurers that do not yet have such plans are in the process of preparing them, the survey found.

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The survey also examines insurer plans to have their staff work at home and to protect the health of their employees. It also presents information regarding insurer stockpiling of antiviral medications, personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers.