Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
'imbalance between economic development and social development' was 'bound to
the public health sector. on various occasions since the crisis, central leaders have
emphasised the importance of public health, especially public health emergency
response. the government capacity to mobilise against a disease outbreak is enhanced
by a more institutionalised crisis management system. the regulations on Public
Health emergencies issued by the State council in mid May 2003, for example,
require setting up an emergency headquarters right after a public health emergency
is identified. By the end of 2005, 66 percent of the township and health centres,
90 percent of the health institutions at or above county level and 100 percent of the
centres for disease control had built the internet-based disease reporting system,
allowing hospitals to report suspected infectious disease cases directly to china
cDc and the ministry of health. the epidemic also created incentives for chinese
leaders to show a new, more proactive attitude toward aIDS. Since then, discourse
and action relating to HIv/aIDS have changed dramatically, with senior leaders
facing the epidemic with a greater sense of awareness, openness, and responsibility.
the chinese case underscores the importance of democratic values in good
governance, but democracy itself is not sufficient for effective governance during
public health crises. In this regard, canada provides a very good example that even an
advanced democracy can experience serious problems in public health governance.
Indeed, SarS revealed the limitations of the country's expensive system of universal
health care, prompting the federal and provincial governments to review the public
health policies and infrastructure. the effects of the contagion on governance in
canada, and the problematic responses of the government at both the provincial and
federal levels, therefore deserve serious investigation. Specifically, in the Canadian
case the epidemic revealed that canadian public health infrastructure was fragile,
particularly in the province of Ontario, which saw the most significant outbreak of
SarS outside of china. Gambling that budget cuts in public health controls would
not matter, the Conservative provincial government in 2001 laid off five scientists
charged with disease surveillance. Public health disasters, such as the infection of
the water supply in walkerton, ontario, with
E. coli
went unheeded by a government
bent on cost cutting. the provincial government subsequently paid an onerous price
for such short-sightedness, complacency, and thoughtlessness.
Effects on Regional Governance in the Pacific Rim
As the SARS epidemic intensified, the members of the Association of South East
asian nations (aSean) grew increasingly aware of the threat the contagion posed
to their populace and their economies. anxiety in this region was reinforced by
prior shocks to governance, such as the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, as well
as the regional environmental effects of the haze from ubiquitous fires throughout
the region during the same time. as Prime Minister Goh chok tong of Singapore
admitted, SARS had a bigger impact on the country than the 1997-98 financial
