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The recent scares over the H1N1 ‘swine’ flu – the outbreak, its development into a pandemic, and the threat of worse to come this fall – have been making daily headlines for months. These kinds of health scares are at once alien to us and at the same time very present, invoking both our cultural memories and the history of the Plague, scarlet fever, SARS, and the Spanish Flu.
At the same time, many of us are wary – or probably should be – of taking to these more dramatic understandings of the virus. But rather than falling into a pattern of fear-mongering, many argue that we should look at the ways we have dealt with health crises in the recent past, so that they can assist the task of preventing, limiting, and eliminating the H1N1 flu. In this light, an examination of how the SARS outbreak of 2003 was addressed in North America seems particularly appropriate.
The authors of two MQUP books – one forthcoming, one published shortly after the 2003 SARS outbreak died down – analyze the ways that SARS was dealt with, how it changed the Canadian and American health care systems, and what are most import lessons we need to learn.
SARS in Context is an edited collection, with essays from disease historians, policy experts, and health care professionals directly involved in SARS control. They present a broad historical framework for understanding the SARS virus and its treatment, as well as testimonials from some of those most involved in trying to contain the disease, including former Ontario Chief Coroner James Young. Together, the editors and contributors offer suggestions for changes in health policy that might well serve Canada now.
SARS Unmasked: Risk Communication of Pandemics and Influenza in Canada is written by two people who might very well know best: Michael G. Tyshenko is a McLaughlin Chair in Science Health Policy at the Institute of Population Health at the University of Ottawa, and Cathy Paterson is a registered nurse clinician who was working at North York General – the SARS epicenter – when the crisis broke out in Toronto. Their book offers grounded, viable solutions for preventing some of the worst inadequacies discovered in 2003, particularly around keeping frontline health care workers safe and addressing the societal impacts of a major pandemic.
When faced with major public health challenges, books like these authors are invaluable. Rather than cultivate the panic of 2003, both SARS in Context and SARS Unmasked offer analysis and solutions applicable to all those involved in the management of the H1N1 flu pandemic.
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