Comparing the response to cholera in Zimbabwe with SARS response in Toronto – Public health systems in crisis

This is an article about two diseases: cholera and SARS. Pandemics today potentially can spread from one part of the globe to another. The spread of SARS from Hong Kong where it was first identified and isolated, to Toronto (which was particularly hard hit), in part has to do with the new realities of migration and visiting patterns, part of the globalization process. (Lewison, 2008) As well as Rankin (2007) and other note, SARS revealed gaps in preparedness for dealing with a major pandemic in the high-tech industrialized West. Many serious epidemic diseases like cholera seem to be centred in developing nations, where conditions of sanitation, health care and education about hygiene, as well as technologies and infrastructure such as clean water for the majority of people, are not as comprehensive as they are in developed nations like Canada.However, response to cholera, as opposed to SARS, does not lead to public calls for shutting down borders or limiting trade with infected areas, which is what, happened to Toronto during the SARS outbreak. (Lewison, 2008) In part, this is because of the fact that much less was known about SARS transmission, etiology, and prognosis, than is known of cholera. By late 2003, as Lewiston notes the panic over SARS was lessened as scientific papers were published in large numbers revealing the make up of the virus, in the coronavirus family, and the treatment protocol to contain it. (Lewiston: 246) But during the actual crisis front line workers, such as nurses, pharmacists, and doctors had to deal with a huge panic over lack of understanding of the extent of the virus’s possible or potential spread. One question to be answered is how do countries prepare better to deal with future epidemics based on what occurred in this situation in Toronto?

[...] The report also notes that many international public health organizations are in Zimbabwe trying to cope with the spreading epidemic, including the International Organization for Migration, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Medicines du Monde, Medecins Sans Frontieres, OXFAM (WHO: 449-450) The WHO reports on its own activities in the area, including “procuring emergency stocks of supplies deploying a full outbreak investigation and response team, including epidemiologists, water and sanitation engineers and social mobilization specialists. (WHO: 450) Yet, the WHO report contradicts the news, as discussed above, coming out of Zimbabwe, regarding the shutting down of the nation due to political unrest and rivalries and international fears of investment. [...]

[...] (2008) reporting of the risks from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the news media, 2003-2004” Health, Risk & Society, Vol no pp 241-262 Naidoo, A. and Patric, K. (2002) “Cholera: a continuous epidemic in Africa” The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, June, Vol no pp 89-94 Rankin, John (2006) “Godzilla in the corridor: The Ontario SARS crisis in historical perspective” Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, Vol pp 130-137. Sack, D. et al. (2006) “Getting Serious About cholera”. The New England [...]

[...] The failure of the international response effort combined with internal government corruption are contributing, as reports suggest, to the severity of the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe in 2008, with an estimated at least at risk of contracting the illness. (Dugger, 2008) Reporting from the capital, Dugger in Dec. wrote Water cut-offs are common and prolonged here, but last week the taps went dry in virtually all of the capital's densely packed suburbs, where people most need clean drinking water to wash their hands and food, essential steps to containing cholera. [...]