Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
SarS outbreak in greater china—the Prc, taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao—
severely affected toronto, although vancouver was largely spared from the crisis.
In the wake of SarS, avian influenza has become the foremost health threat
confronting Asia and the world. As the World Health Organization ([WHO] 2004a)
warns, 'of the 15 avian influenza virus subtypes, H5n1 is of particular concern for
several reasons. H5n1 mutates rapidly and has a documented propensity to acquire
genes from viruses infecting other animal species … isolates from this virus have a
high pathogenicity and can cause severe disease in humans'. the migratory routes of
birds from Siberia cover asia and europe. In February 2007, the H5n1 virus killed
2500 turkeys on a british poultry farm. If the H5n1-infected birds pose an increasing
human security threat to many states and cities, the continuous surveillance of their
migratory patterns by satellites is critical to the well-being of all the people around
the world. Margaret chan stressed the need to set up a global surveillance system to
monitor health crises during her campaign for election as director general of the wHo
in november 2006. after all, the H5n1 virus entails the possibility of person-to-person
transmission in thailand in 2004 (Ungchusak
et al. 2005). If so, it is urgent for states to
'stockpile anti-viral drugs and strain-specific vaccines' and to share their intelligence
data on the H5n1 virus with the wHo and other countries (Monto 2005, 325).
according to the
Canadian Influenza Pandemic Plan
, any outbreak of the influenza
an epidemic will have an immediate impact on canada's society and economy. an
estimated 4.5 million to 10.6 million canadians would become clinically ill and
lose their working capacity (Public Health Agency of Canada [PHAC] 2004, 18).
an estimated 2.1 million to 5 million people would require outpatient care; between
34 000 and 138 000 people would require hospitalisation; and between 11 000 and
58 000 people would die in canada alone. the economic impact has been estimated
to cost between ca$10 billion and ca$24 billion.
this chapter analyses the governance of asian states in response to respiratory
infectious disease, particularly avian influenza and SARS. Lessons can be drawn
from the asian experience for canadian governments at the federal, provincial,
and municipal levels. Indeed, canada has much to learn from the bitter lessons
of SarS and the ways in which some asian cities such as Singapore and Hong
Kong dealt with it. being a democratic country does not necessarily endow federal
and sub-federal governments with the capacity to control an influenza pandemic
effectively. arguably, governmental decisiveness during any such pandemic would
be far more important than the protection of civil liberties. Provincial variations
in canada have already revealed on how differently those governments perceive
an influenza pandemic. Yet if Canadian governments at the federal, provincial, and
municipal levels together with the private sector all implement a common action
plan, Canada's governance in response to any possible influenza pandemic would be
substantially enhanced.
For the purposes of this chapter, the concept of health governance is defined
narrowly as how governments respond to the outbreak of infectious disease. It refers
here to government's capacity or ability to take decisive and emergency measures.
How a government reacts can have a direct bearing on the regime's legitimacy. the
