James: Did SARS teach us nothing?
October 31, 2009
Royson James
If I stand up in church and invite the congregation to lunch, only to tell them an hour later that, "Oops, I don't have enough rice and peas, and only a quarter of the jerk chicken is available," I'd be acting like public health officials in this city, province and country.
They invited us to roll up our sleeves to get the swine flu H1N1 vaccine – even scolded those who balked. Just when we started believing that our health risked being compromised without getting the flu shot, they said, in effect, "Sorry, joking ... uh, come back next week, or maybe next month."
If, as health officials drum into us, "This year it's a different flu season," and the H1N1 virus is indeed a pandemic that threatens to kill us by the hundreds, if not thousands, then God help us.
Those charged with looking after the public's health have failed miserably – not the nurses who stick us with the needles, not the overmatched security people, not the staffers running off their feet to fix an ill-conceived health delivery system, but the people in charge.
It's as if we haven't learned anything from the SARS outbreak, where our political and medical leadership proved incapable of coordinated and timely direction in the face of a public health crisis.
What we do know is that full-page advertisements in the Star and other newspapers trumpet that the pandemic is coming. The World Health Organization declared H1N1 a pandemic in June. Health officials have been watching the onset of the outbreak for who knows how long. And this is how they tackle it once it arrives?
We are not talking about SARS – the outbreak that caught us napping and slammed residents and health workers with unexpected fury.
No, this was expected, trumpeted and prepared for. And now the plan seems hopelessly botched, an unacceptable public health performance in the face of a supposed deadly outbreak.
We practised on SARS and the Asian flu; by now we should have perfected the delivery of public health.
If the fallout from this debacle is mass deaths, at least future warnings from health officials might be heeded. Public confidence – at least in the medical knowledge of our health officials – will be restored. What would remain shaken to the core is faith in their ability to manage an outbreak and prepare for the worst.
Unfortunately, the handling of the crisis feeds a gnawing suspicion that the entire outbreak is overstated and the danger is not nearly as real as some say. That view was gaining a foothold, until the tragic death of the 13-year-old Toronto hockey player struck fear in residents. Now, it's back in currency.
Yes, it makes sense that those most susceptible to the virus get the available shots first. But if we are all at risk, then the vaccines should be readily available to all.
In attempting to downplay the risk to the general public, health officials Friday said healthy residents should not panic if they have to wait a few weeks to get the vaccine. And even if they get sick during that time, it's unlikely they will be stricken by a severe illness instead of a mild version of H1N1.
All this does is feed the naysayers who have consistently maintained the danger is greatly overstated.
If the disease is so dangerous, Health Canada and the provinces would have made sure there was enough vaccine available for every man, woman and child in the nation.
They didn't.
This is either incalculable incompetence. Or health officials are so smart that they are holding back supplies of the vaccine to manage the madness and panic that might ensue.
Either way, this is no way to run a public health system.
Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Toronto Star