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Article: Public health law and ethics: lessons from SARS and quarantine.(Feature on Law and Ethics)
- Article from:
- LawNow
- Article date:
- February 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The 2003 global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was an abrupt reminder that infectious diseases pose a continuing threat to human health. In 1967, US Surgeon General W.H. Stewart had optimistically declared, "it was time to close the book on infectious diseases". SARS proved that wrong. Outside Asia, Canada was the country hardest hit by SARS. The outbreak took 44 lives in our country, threatened many others, and created numerous challenges for public health officials and the acute health care system. In particular, SARS highlighted serious deficiencies in public health infrastructure and preparedness. As in other countries, officials in Canada were ...