The virus initially found a way to successfully spread itself from person to person. This method was when an infected person went to hospital; he/she would spread it to the unaware medical team, who in turn would spread it to their patients. From only a few cases the SARS virus escalated to 150 reported cases in March, then to 6000 in the end of April, then 7000 and now 8000.
The WHO, through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), is working to track and trace the origins of this disease, develop precision diagnostics for it, and provide advice on treatment for SARS to medical teams around the world. WHO is working with health authorities in the affected countries and other heath networks such as the CDC to supply epidemiological, clinical and logistic support that they need, therefore playing both an advisory and technical role in solving the problem.
What is the WHO Doing about SARS?
The WHO has been involved in investigating SARS since they had come to know of the outbreak in Guangdong. This was on February 11, 2003. Since then the WHO has been working in the most severely affected countries (Canada, China, Vietnam and Singapore) as to find out how this disease spread, came about and why it is so hard to treat. Funds for the research on SARS came from many countries, but the major contributors were China, Japan, Singapore and Canada.
Though there has been no real success in finding a way to treat SARS, the WHO has worked very hard to keep it contained, while researchers continue to look for the characteristics and hopefully the cure to SARS. There is no cure to SARS at the current moment, but 5937 of those who have been reportedly infected have recovered and been discharged from hospitals around the world. At the peak of SARS the main field research stations were in Hanoi, Hong Kong and Guangdong province in China.
WHO Aims
The aims of the WHO are as follows:
- Contain and control the outbreak
A global surveillance program and quarantined areas were established by the WHO to prevent the spread of SARS. In severely affected countries, such as China (Hong Kong), face masks have been handed out to the public so that they have minimum chances of contracting the disease. Advice has been given to tourists to prevent them from travelling to countries where they could catch SARS, and airports have been advised to screen their passengers for SARS if they had been in an affected area. WHO also uses special mapping technology to map out affected areas and potentially affected areas so that they can prevent the disease from further spreading.
- Identify the causative agent
With the help of 13 top chemical labs around the world, the WHO has been trying to identify the causative agent, which then in turn could help scientists create a drug that could cure SARS and a vaccine that could prevent it, should it be needed in the future.
- Identify effective treatment regimes
Though no cure has been found, some cases, through supportive care have recovered. The WHO has been educating the health organisations of many countries on the best ways to treat those with SARS.
- Support health care infrastructure in affected countries by coordinating supplies and additional health care workers if needed
The WHO provided research teams to the most infected areas. Two of these areas are Guangdong and Hanoi. There the WHO teams collect data for research labs and try to pinpoint the characteristics of SARS.
- Provide information to health officials and address public concerns
The WHO has designated a whole sub-page on their website to SARS. The public and health officials of their countries can get information on a number of topics from travel recommendations to best possible treatment for SARS patients.
The CDC
Another agency that is doing considerable work on SARS with the WHO is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They have worked closely with the WHO and done the following:
- Activated its Emergency Operations Center to provide round-the-clock coordination and response.
- Committed more than 700 medical experts and support staff to work on the SARS response.
- Deployed medical officers, epidemiologists, and other specialists to assist with on-site investigations around the world.
- Provided ongoing assistance to state and local health departments in investigating possible cases of SARS in the United States.
- Conducted extensive laboratory testing of clinical specimens from SARS patients to identify the cause of the disease.
- Initiated a system for distributing health alert notices to travellers who may have been exposed to cases of SARS.
Both of these two giant agencies have again been working with the most advanced research, drug and epidemiology labs from Europe and around the world to figure out the various characteristics of SARS.
How Successful Has WHO Been?
The World Heath Organisation along with its affiliates has been able to improve many SARS cases throughout the world by giving advice to hospitals about treating patients. Moreover the WHO set up a type of global surveillance system that was very successful in reporting and quarantining suspected cases of the disease. Through research on SARS, the WHO has been able to give information to hospitals and the general public on the symptoms of the disease and how best to take care of an affected person. Containment and quarantine of areas hit by SARS has almost halted the spread of the disease. Now only a few new cases pop up and WHO officials have stated that ‘SARS is over its peak’, calling off the red-light alert and looking for way to more efficiently handle such a task in the future. Through lab research, scientists have found out that SARS is a type of corona virus caused by a new member of that family. With this information the scientists have been able to develop drugs that will ease the SARS patients and fight the disease to some extent, should it continue or come up again in the future. In addition to that the WHO has also been trying to mend the battered tourism and trade industry by means of creating information pages that have travel and trade recommendations to the general public.
In the end there still is no proven cure to SARS, even though many cases have recovered from the disease. The WHO has been very successful in containing and researching the disease and now the ‘masked’ face of people whom SARS has instilled fear to, is slowly dieing away.
Analysis of the Sources
- Encarta Encyclopaedia Online
This source, though an American source that should be very biased in the way of making the UN look good, seems to be quite a factual source. In the WHO section it gives information on the organisation’s history, general duties, services and its decision making policy. The page on SARS also seems quite factual; however it does describe the work done by the WHO and other organisations as to being ‘superb’. But from the information I have gathered it does seem that the work done by these organisations is quite fine. A very reliable source in sense of information, but the slightest bias seems evident on the SARS page.
This source is defiantly biased towards the WHO because it is their own. However as a research tool the site is quite good. Information on issues of the past is still available in its resource library. The sub-site on the SARS disease is updated almost daily. Facts about the disease are very reliable as they have been compiled in tables that are updated frequently. However some facts on one page do not match the facts on another in the same database, causing confusion in research. Other reports of the SARS’s situation in various countries are updated in volumes making it easy to see a trend in the information. The site however does not specify its manager or writers and it is more intent on bringing up the WHO’s successes rather than its faults.
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Longman 20th Century Series: United Nations?
Does not give any information on SARS, but it does describe the WHO to be an honourable institution, with quotes such as:
‘Health is a state of complete, social, mental and physical well-being, and not merely the absence of disease. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.’
- MEDLINEplus Health Information Website
Is a website that brings articles from all over the internet relating to health issues. This site is much broader than the CDC or the WHO website itself because it has a combination of the two with articles from Reuters and local presses. Most of the articles have authors and dates attached to it. But once again this website is American and seems intent to show how the American institutions are ‘helping’ with the disease. Other than that, a great website with information for all people on health topics, with dates, authors and links to other websites.
With close ties to the WHO, this website also shows the incredible breakthroughs and work done by its organisation to prevent the spread of SARS. But again there are great information pages that have been very useful in describing the work done by CDC and WHO. However like the WHO website, no website manager or writers are specified, which can make the information questionable.
- The Official NIAID Website
Is a Website for an American lab that is working on the SARS disease. It offers great information on the scientific side of the virus and the lab work done. Information pages are dated and they specify a publisher with an address to the organisation. A reliable source in the end.
Bibliography
Internet
‘NIAID Research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) <> (Current at 9 June 2003)
‘SARS; Disease’ <> (Current at 9 June 2003)
‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’ (Current at 9 June 2003)
‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)’ <> (Current at 9 June 2003)
‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)’ (Current at 9 June 2003)
CD-ROMs
‘World Health Organisation’, ‘Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’. ENCARTA 2000 ENCYCLOPAEDIA
Books
Brooman J. ‘United Nations?’ 1990. Pg 22. Longman Group UK Ltd.
Raja Sukhdeo Page 05/05/2007
"World Health Organization," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopaedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
