SARS
...talk about SARS cases. The article goes on to say that China’s government values power and public order over human lives. A Shanghai respiratory specialist put it this way, when talking to a U.S. Time reporter; “You foreigners value each persons life more than we do because you have fewer people in your countries. Our primary concern is social stability, and if a few peoples deaths are kept secret, it’s worth it to keep things stable” (Beech, Hannah April 21, 2003). It would seem if a few cases were kept secret then that would add to the number of people infected, but apparently that doesn’t matter to this woman or for those whom she represents. I wonder if she would feel the same way if she were sitting next to a known SARS case on an airplane for whom China let this number just slip by in order to maintain social stability. Is the value of human life really worth the risk to maintain power and order? The answer is NO, but China officials feel otherwise. By not reporting cases China is not stopping the spread, but is instead encouraging it and giving officials a false idea of how widespread the epidemic is. If officials have no clue what the numbers are then no one is safe because they will not know the severity or the precautions to take. China has gone so far as to not report a whole hospital full of SARS patients. In April 2003, China reported 1300 cases of SARS, but a nurse named Zhang reported to Time magazine that “there are at least one hundred patients if not several hundred patients,” this number was not included in the report. That makes one wonder about other unreported cases. A retired military doctor, Tiang, tells the Time reporter of a case when health authorities, in March of 2003, instructed doctors they were not to publicize about SARS cases. The officials did this instead of explaining how to contain the disease (Beech, Hannah, April 21, 2003). Of course they are not going to educate the staff of doctors because obviously they have a wrong idea of how to maintain the spread of disease. The Municipal Health Bureau instructed doctors not to wear masks in the hospital, except for in isolation wards and a few select diagnostic rooms, so they would not spread panic (better not to spread panic than disease I guess). Someone really needs to educate the health officials that pretending that the disease does not exist will in no way stop the spread of it. A more realistic and encouraging approach can be read in the Toronto Star newspaper, which reads, “It is most distressing and regrettable when we hear of health care workers who die in the line of duty. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Neila Laroza. She, along with many other health-care workers, fought Courageously on the front lines against SARS. Now that SARS has taken Her life, along with the other 38 dead so far from the disease it is time we Took a moment to reflect. How can a disease as nebulous as SARS be Prevented? I expect our leaders at all levels of government to focus there Energies and find the answers. Enough blame and finger pointing has Done. The governments have a responsibility to work together to fight SARS. The families who have lost loved ones deserve a commitment” (Purdy, July 2003). So now that I have discussed how not to manage to spread the disease, let’s take a different approach as suggested by Monica Purdy. All countries need to be honest and work together in order to end the spreading of SARS. China should accept aid in the stopping of the spread so that they can stop potential deaths. And if another country has any suspected or actual cases it should make the public educated and aware. It is the government’s job to value human life and do whatever it takes to maintain it. A person with SARS should have a hospital to go to or a doctor to visit where the patient cannot spread his disease. Once diagnosed with SARS that person should be quarantined and be watched after. Another thing to ensure good public health is a government who is up to date on it’s equipment and has enough funding. As for governments that do not have any economic support it is other countries duty to help out if they want to stop the disease from coming to their country. The hospitals must have good communication devices, scientists, labs, and technology. Toronto...