Speech of Dr Shigeru Omi, Regional Director, WPRO
HONOURABLE MINISTER OF HEALTH DATO' CHUA JUI MENG, DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
First of all, I would like to thank the Government of Malaysia for generously agreeing to host this important meeting and I would like to especially thank His Excellency the Prime Minister Dato Seri Mahathir Mohammad for his gracious presence. I would also like to give a warm welcome to each and every one of you. Many of the people in this room have been on the front line in the battle against SARS. The world owes you a huge debt of gratitude for fighting this disease literally day and night over the past few months. On behalf of the World Health Organization, I would like to thank each and every one of you – for the hard work that you have done.
At a turning-point in the Second World War, someone asked Winston Churchill whether the battle marked the beginning of the end. He replied, "no, but it might be the end of the beginning". The same could be said of the war against SARS. The first half of this year, 2003, will have a unique place in the annals of international public health. All of you who have contributed to the global response to SARS should feel that you have been a part of a movement of historic importance. You have made enormous achievements, but the world expects still more from you. Your successes have raised expectations. Now that the world knows what you can achieve, the demands on the public health and scientific communities will be even greater in future.
This time the epicentre of the epidemic was in the WHO Western Pacific Region, but the response was truly global. The level of international cooperation – and the speed at which it was assembled – was truly unprecedented. What impressed me most was the true spirit of partnership that lay behind this joint effort. Rivalry took a back seat as clinicians, epidemiologists, research scientists, public health staff and other professionals selflessly gave their time and expertise to the common cause of defeating SARS.
Because of you and your colleagues, we have learned a lot about this new disease in a very short period of time. For example, the modes of transmission, causative agent, incubation period, and case fatality rate are now better understood.
We have also learned some hard lessons about our health systems. Almost everywhere, SARS mercilessly exposed weaknesses, even in countries that we thought had good surveillance and outbreak response systems. Seriously inadequate hospital infection control practices were laid bare. Among the most important lessons that we learned are the need for stronger surveillance systems and transparent information sharing. SARS moved extremely quickly and we discovered that we must move equally rapidly, particularly at the local level. Information needs to be acted on at the local level and then passed rapidly on to other levels. For SARS, it has been critical that this information is quickly consolidated and then forwarded to WHO and other members of the international community.
However much more needs to be done before we can contain this disease. We have to address the many unanswered questions surrounding the virology of SARS. We must identify the origin of this virus and determine whether there is indeed an animal reservoir for this virus. We have to investigate whether it will be possible to eradicate SARS completely. We need to look very closely at our routine infection control measures, and the way training is carried out. Much research needs to be done into the potential for diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral drugs.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a lot of serious business before us. However, when I look around the room, I am extremely impressed by the quality of the delegates attending this meeting. Many of the world’s leading scientists, public health professionals, clinicians and epidemiologists are here. Most of the key people who have been directing the fight against SARS will be participating in our discussions. They will guarantee that this will be a very stimulating meeting and I am confident it will also be a successful one. Our progress here will be one way of building on the enormous sacrifices made by health workers across the world who turned up, day after day in SARS-affected hospitals, often working in extremely difficult conditions, and sometimes sacrificing their lives in the process. They are the greatest heroes of the battle against SARS.
In closing, I would like to once again welcome all of you to this important meeting. I would also like to once again thank His Excellency the Prime Minister of Malaysia for his presence and the Minister of Health and his colleagues for their excellent work in organizing this meeting. With these words I declare this WHO global meeting on SARS now open. Thank you.