EDITORIAL - No room for complacency

A multinational pharmaceutical firm is set to launch a diagnostic test for SARS in Asia. The Department of Health, meanwhile, is scaling down its SARS monitoring operations, limiting temperature checks to passengers arriving from Taiwan, China and Toronto, Canada – pla—ces that remain affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. For its part, labor officials are reportedly preparing to recapture job markets lost by overseas Filipino workers due to the SARS scare.

The worst appears to be over, according to the World Health Organization. In the Philippines, measures instituted even before the first SARS case was confirmed helped prevent the spread of the deadly disease. The country registered only two SARS fatalities, and one of them contracted the virus in Toronto. The latest survey conduc—ted by the Social Weather Stations showed that the government’s handling of the SARS threat lifted President Arroyo from her negative performance rating earlier in the year to a net 14 percent in the second quarter.

All the good news, however, should not lull anyone into complacency. Some SARS victims have experienced a relapse, while WHO officials had to restore the travel warning on Toronto after a fresh outbreak of the killer flu. International health experts have warned that there is still no cure for SARS. The origin of the virus remains a mystery, although experts have focused on the civet cat, which is eaten in China. Fears have been raised that the disease could have cycles and an epidemic could strike anew, especially in the areas where it is believed to have originated. There is also concern that the virus could mutate into stronger strains, making a cure or vaccine even more elusive.

Quarantine measures, strict health screening at all ports of entry, better hygiene, openness about the disease and close coordination with international health experts helped contain the SARS threat. Even press reports, considered hysterical by some sectors, helped increase public awareness of the threat. With the SARS threat ebbing, certain measures can be scaled down. People can travel overseas again and stop taking too many vitamins. But it would be foolish to let down our guard.