An Overseer w/o an Axe to Grind – The SARS Report

The final SARS Report, published in December 2006, was administered under the capable direction of Mr. Justice Archie Campbell. We believe that the Report is a rare example of a Canadian Overseer who did not overstep his mandate—and, instead, provided clear-cut, unbiased recommendations for public change.

The Report represented a serious attempt at reform and involved a balanced dialogue with health-care workers—who bore the brunt of the SARS virus, including the deaths of two nurses and a doctor—as well as public health officials and civil servants.

Systemic problems identified in the Report include:

• Poor internal and external communications;
• Problems with preparation and planning for an outbreak of a virulent disease;
• Accountability issues: who is in charge and who does what;
• Problems with worker and patient safety;
• Infection control, surveillance and lack of independent safety inspections;
• Resource problems including people, money, laboratories and infrastructure; and,
• Most importantly, a lack of the application of the precautionary principle that action to reduce risk should not wait for scientific certainty.