OPINION> Ravi S. Narasimhan
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OPINION> Ravi S. Narasimhan
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Lessons from SARS have to be applied
By Ravi S. Narasimhan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-06 07:44
I was living in Hong Kong during SARS - and read enough reports from the mainland - to know that the scars of that epidemic haven't yet healed. Six years on, images of a besieged city are still vivid: Masks, all shapes and colors to the point of becoming fashion accessories. Swipes, wherever tap water wasn't available to wash hands so often to have the skin peeling off. Elevators, where floor buttons were pushed with pens and keychains. Escalators, where people did balancing acts to avoid touching the handrails. And, in the China Daily Hong Kong Edition office, the main door left open so that the fingerprint entry system could be suspended. As the alarm was sounded on the H1N1 flu, it was, as they say, dj vu all over again - except for those who didn't live through the SARS crisis. Which is why I can understand why the Mexican government reacted with distress to the quarantine of the country's citizens which the president, Felipe Calderon, described, without referring to any country, as "repressive, discriminatory measures". The country's foreign minister went a step further, accusing China of isolating its citizens in what she characterized as "unacceptable conditions". The Chinese foreign ministry tried to set the record right, saying the country was not discriminating against anyone, and that the quarantine measures were essentially a matter of health checks to ensure the virus did not spread. Aggressive action by the Chinese government, against the backdrop of the World Health Organisation one step away from declaring the flu as a global pandemic doesn't sound "repressive" to me.
And, "discriminatory" may be misplaced when the same treatment would have been applied to citizens of Marshall Islands or Madagascar should the flu have originated in those countries; and, I dare say that Beijing would not have objected as strenuously if Chinese citizens were subjected to similar treatment abroad if the flu had originated in the country. Mexico has been lauded for being upfront about the epidemic and taking decisive steps such as closing down schools, restaurants and bars - as well as playing soccer matches in empty stadiums. Should the country not be a little sympathetic to a country - criticized for not doing enough in the initial stages of the SARS outbreak - trying to do the same? Granted, it is not a pleasant experience to be subjected to quarantine. What other options did Beijing have at the time when the spread of the flu seemed inexorable? Perhaps some "soft power", like making sure the quarantined guests had "acceptable" accommodation and access to home comforts. Conflicting signals about the virulence of the flu haven't helped either. The WHO warns that should the current crisis pass, the virus could mutate and become more deadly come autumn, raising visions of a similar trend of the Spanish flu in 1918, which killed millions. But governments in the worst-hit countries - Mexico and the United States - seem content to declare that the epidemic is on the wane. At the same time, experts point out that the H1N1 is an unknown quantity: Scientists are trying to determine its path, its progression, its pathology and the prognosis for us. When China became the first country to send aid, including medical supplies, to Mexico, Calderon said his country had a lot to learn from how China handled SARS. The lesson could be a bit of tough love. And, not SARS all over again. E-mail: [email protected] |
