Poor health care system spread SARS in Canada

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Report: Poor health system spread SARS

 

Items compiled from Tribune news services

Published January 10, 2007

 

 

TORONTO, CANADA -- The SARS epidemic that killed 44 people in Ontario in 2003 spread because of a shoddy public health system and inadequate safety practices, according to an investigative commission report released Tuesday.

 

The mysterious disease infected nearly three-fourths of its victims at clinics and hospitals, facilities that should have prevented its spread, the report said. The epidemic was stopped by health employees who worked despite fears of a then-unknown killer, it said.

 

"The surprise is not that Ontario's response to SARS worked so badly, but that it worked at all," Ontario Superior Court Justice Archie Campbell said in the 1,204-page report.

 

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa...260BBCDB1E0E553

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - There were widespread failures in Ontario's healthcare system and more could have been done to protect healthcare workers during a crisis of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Toronto in 2003, a commission investigating the outbreak revealed on Tuesday.

 

The final report by Justice Archie Campbell of the Ontario Superior Court said the province's Ministry of Labour was essentially sidelined by the SARS virus outbreak, which infected a total of 375 people, of whom 44 died. Two nurses and a physician were among those killed.

 

Health workers, who made up nearly half of those sickened by the virus, would have been better protected if occupational health experts had been involved to help contain the problem, the report said.

 

Indeed, the spread of SARS could have been worse if not for the province's health workers.

 

"SARS was stopped by the front-line workers and the scientists and specialists who stepped up and who were not afraid to take the strong measures that worked in the end," the report said.

 

Campbell's report said hospitals were dangerous workplaces, like mines and factories, though the latter have basic workplace safety systems in place.

 

The report found several main themes, said Commission Counsel Doug Hunt at a news conference. Campbell was ill and could not attend.

 

 

"Two of the most important are a systemic, province-wide inadequate preparation with respect to infection control in hospital facilities," said Hunt. "The second is a systemic, province-wide inadequate acknowledgment of healthcare worker safety concerns and preparedness to address them."

 

"Justice Campbell found that systemic problems ran through every hospital and every government agency," Hunt said.

 

These included difficulties with internal and external communications and with preparation for an outbreak of a virulent disease.

 

Campbell's report said there were problems with accountability, worker and patient safety, funding and infrastructure.

 

While steps have been taken to improve responses to infectious diseases, more must be done, the report suggests.

 

It recommended changes to provincial public health and emergency law, hospital practices and disease monitoring.

 

The commission's first report in April 2004 addressed the problems of Ontario's public health infrastructure, while a second report a year later addressed deficiencies in health protection and emergency response laws.