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Report Summary
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) first appeared in Southern China in November 2002. By February 2003, health authorities in Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam began reporting cases. SARS eventually spread to 29 countries, affecting nearly 9000 people and causing 774 deaths. The New Zealand Ministry of Health reported one case to the WHO as a possible case.
This report provides a review of the New Zealand health sector’s response to the threat of SARS, covering the responses of the Ministry of Health, District Health Boards, public health units and the wider health sector. It is one of a number of actions taken to identify areas for review and refinement of the health sector’s pandemic response plans.
The Ministry of Health was the lead agency during the SARS event. SARS also provoked a whole of government response, co-ordinated by the Officials’ Committee for Domestic and External Security and Co-ordination (ODESC) framework, which facilitated a co-ordinated response between the Ministry of Health and the range of other government agencies whose areas of interest were affected by SARS.
In the absence of confirmed cases in New Zealand, SARS was effectively a live exercise to test the pandemic response of the health sector. The perceptions of those surveyed indicate that the response was generally seen as effective and appropriate. The response to SARS has highlighted both strengths and weaknesses in the health sector’s pandemic response plans and processes. The report concludes that the New Zealand health sector’s response to SARS appeared to be largely effective and appropriate. There is a need to employ the lessons learned from SARS into future planning to improve emergency response throughout the sector and in a range of scenarios.
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