Offence To Keep SARS A Deadly Secret Brunei Doctors Warned
By Azlan Othman & Malai Hassan Othman

Bandar Seri Begawan - Doctors in Brunei were yesterday ordered to notify the Health Department all suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) cases or it would be an offence to keep it secret.

Brunei has taken this drastic measure to keep the deadly disease out as SARS continued its rapid killer sweep through the region.

The Brunei Ministry of Health felt that it was an urgent necessity to include SARS as a disease to be notified under the provision of the Quarantine and Prevention Disease Act, Chapter 47 Laws of Brunei as of March 19, 2003.

It was therefore mandatory for every health practitioner in the country to notify any suspected case of SARS to the Department of Health for further action.

It is an offence for anyone not to promptly report any suspected cases to the health authorities, officials said yesterday.

Hj Azahari Pg. Hj Ahmad, the secretary of the Special Task Force the Ministry of Health has set up in the wake of worldwide outbreak of the deadly disease said that at present there were no SARS cases in Brunei.

Also present at the special press conference was Dr. Hjh Rahmah, the Acting Director of Health Services and Head, Disease Control Division of the Health Department.

While the health authority here has geared up all its resources to keep the elsewhere rapidly spreading mysterious flu-like illness out of Brunei, it is also facing another syndrome in the form of baseless rapidly spreading rumours.

Many apparently falling victims of false rumours believe that are already cases of SARS in the country. They falsely allege that the authority is deliberately hiding this information about the highly contagious disease from the public.

This rather distressing situation prompted the Ministry of Health yesterday to once again assure the public that to date no case of SARS has been reported here.

According to Awang Haji Azahari the latest move was part of the national response to the rapidly spreading infectious disease in the region.

It was learned that this move underscored the need for the health authority and the public at large to join hands to combat the highly contagious disease from spreading here. And apparently the best weapon to contain this disease is the efficient flow of information between the authority and the public to track down the deadly pneumonia virus before it reaches Brunei.

The Ministry has also revised its earlier travel advisory to affected areas by adding Taiwan and Mainland China in the list for the time being.

"In view of the increase in numbers of reported cases and the rapid spread of this disease to these new countries, the ministry is revising its earlier advice on travel to affected areas.

"As a precautionary measure, the public are strongly advised to avoid travel to areas where local transmission is occurring -- Hanoi, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and additionally Taiwan and Mainland China," Hj Azahari said.

As of March 31, a total of 1,622 cases have been reported to the WHO including 58 deaths. Areas affected with local transmission include Beijing, Guandong Province in China, Hong Kong, Shanxi Province in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam.

Cases have also been reported in France, Germany, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States of America.

The Ministry of Health said it would continue to maintain close vigilance on the killer disease.

It has also implemented measures focusing on the surveillance for early detection of possible cases, preparedness for the clinical management of SARS including isolation as well as other related control and preventive activities.

Disease trends in countries where local transmission had occurred are also being closely monitored, said the ministry.

The ministry also asked people who had travelled to affected areas in the last two weeks be vigilant.

For more information, the public are advised to contact the Health Services Department, Ministry of Health at the at the telephone numbers previously announced; 2382755 (also fax), 2382041, 2382044, 2381640 ext 7701/02, 7809/10, 7693/7686. (Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin)

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