Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2008/02/26/4876934-sun.html
5 Years after SARS
Ontario still has no system in place to handle a major outbreak of disease, experts say
By SHARON LEM, TORONTO SUN
Five years after a deadly SARS outbreak, Ontario still isn't ready to manage a large-scale infectious disease outbreak, experts say.
"I don't think it's any use pretending we're ready for a flu pandemic," said Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital. "We're better off than we were five years ago when SARS hit, but there's still a long way to go.
"There are still a lot of shortcomings ... at the local level in Ontario, much more infrastructure between Ontario hospitals and the health-care system and considerably more attention on how many people die of infections is needed."
Last weekend marked the fifth anniversary of SARS in Toronto, when a Scarborough grandmother flew home after visiting Hong Kong and unknowingly brought SARS with her -- eventually infecting 387 people in the GTA and killing 44 from Feb. 23, 2003, to June 7, 2003.
McGeer criticized the Ontario Liberal government for still not having a surveillance system and reporting program to track infectious diseases.
"We don't even know how many people are infected with C-difficile," she said. "There are 178 hospitals in Ontario and no one knows. We have no funding for a surveillance system."
Ontario's 178 hospitals still do not have the ability to handle an infectious disease outbreak and work together under one umbrella, she said.
"We still don't have capacity plans to deal with a lack of human resources during an outbreak," she said.
"There's no surge capacity. We don't have the ability to collect and manufacture data of a new outbreak and manage it effectively during an incubation period to define symptoms with diagnostic testing, analysis or interpret the results."
Following SARS, Ontario created a public health promotion and protection agency.
"It is our job as government to learn from the experience and ensure we will be able to respond rapidly and effectively to any health emergencies," Health Minister George Smitherman said in January 2007 in responding to recommendations from Mr. Justice Archie Campbell on the province's response to SARS.
However, five years after SARS terrorized this city and others around the world, and eight months after the agency was created, board members have just begun to meet and it still lacks a CEO.
NDP health critic France Gelinas criticized Smitherman for dragging his feet in creating the agency.
GRANDSTANDING
"It's a long way from being active ... with all the grandstanding after SARS, you'd think it would have been in place five years later," she said. "Obviously health care is not a priority for the Liberals."
Conservative critic Frank Klees concurred.
"There isn't a hospital in the province that is not underfunded, which is a strong indication that we're not ready for another SARS or a pandemic flu outbreak ... for this government to pretend we're ready for a pandemic is at the height of dishonesty," he said.
"The government has developed an Ontario Health Plan For An Influenza Pandemic," Laurel Ostfield, spokesman for Smitherman, insisted.
"This plan is constantly updated because continuous quality improvement is necessary to help Ontario constantly strive to be better prepared in the event of a pandemic," she said "This drive is what makes Ontario one of the best prepared jurisdictions in the world."
5 Years after SARS
Ontario still has no system in place to handle a major outbreak of disease, experts say
By SHARON LEM, TORONTO SUN
Five years after a deadly SARS outbreak, Ontario still isn't ready to manage a large-scale infectious disease outbreak, experts say.
"I don't think it's any use pretending we're ready for a flu pandemic," said Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital. "We're better off than we were five years ago when SARS hit, but there's still a long way to go.
"There are still a lot of shortcomings ... at the local level in Ontario, much more infrastructure between Ontario hospitals and the health-care system and considerably more attention on how many people die of infections is needed."
Last weekend marked the fifth anniversary of SARS in Toronto, when a Scarborough grandmother flew home after visiting Hong Kong and unknowingly brought SARS with her -- eventually infecting 387 people in the GTA and killing 44 from Feb. 23, 2003, to June 7, 2003.
McGeer criticized the Ontario Liberal government for still not having a surveillance system and reporting program to track infectious diseases.
"We don't even know how many people are infected with C-difficile," she said. "There are 178 hospitals in Ontario and no one knows. We have no funding for a surveillance system."
Ontario's 178 hospitals still do not have the ability to handle an infectious disease outbreak and work together under one umbrella, she said.
"We still don't have capacity plans to deal with a lack of human resources during an outbreak," she said.
"There's no surge capacity. We don't have the ability to collect and manufacture data of a new outbreak and manage it effectively during an incubation period to define symptoms with diagnostic testing, analysis or interpret the results."
Following SARS, Ontario created a public health promotion and protection agency.
"It is our job as government to learn from the experience and ensure we will be able to respond rapidly and effectively to any health emergencies," Health Minister George Smitherman said in January 2007 in responding to recommendations from Mr. Justice Archie Campbell on the province's response to SARS.
However, five years after SARS terrorized this city and others around the world, and eight months after the agency was created, board members have just begun to meet and it still lacks a CEO.
NDP health critic France Gelinas criticized Smitherman for dragging his feet in creating the agency.
GRANDSTANDING
"It's a long way from being active ... with all the grandstanding after SARS, you'd think it would have been in place five years later," she said. "Obviously health care is not a priority for the Liberals."
Conservative critic Frank Klees concurred.
"There isn't a hospital in the province that is not underfunded, which is a strong indication that we're not ready for another SARS or a pandemic flu outbreak ... for this government to pretend we're ready for a pandemic is at the height of dishonesty," he said.
"The government has developed an Ontario Health Plan For An Influenza Pandemic," Laurel Ostfield, spokesman for Smitherman, insisted.
"This plan is constantly updated because continuous quality improvement is necessary to help Ontario constantly strive to be better prepared in the event of a pandemic," she said "This drive is what makes Ontario one of the best prepared jurisdictions in the world."