It took the Singapore Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan, to impart the first lessons on the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to top health officials of the country, at an unscheduled session on Wednesday.Part of the Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s delegation to India, Sadasivan made the extra effort on the request of the Indian Government. In an hour-long power point presentation, he informed Indian officials— which included Health Secretary S.K. Naik and Director General Health Services S.P. Aggarwal— of the virus and its ability to spread rapidly. According to him, if one in a 100 were to contract the virus, the remaining 99 are bound to be infected in a matter of hours unless measures are taken to isolate affected persons.With 103 SARS cases reported in Singapore so far, the country has taken every measure to stem the spread of this deadly virus. In fact, it is learnt that a member of Tong’s delegation to India was dropped at the last minute just because his eyes were red.The entire delegation is said to have been screened twice—once prior to boarding the flight at Singapore and once in the aircraft— before they landed here. While Singapore cancelled all official tours including Tong’s visit to China after the outbreak of SARS, the India visit was undertaken after Delhi said it would not want this to affect bilateral matters.According to Singapore officials, their researchers have already identified, isolated and are now genetically sequencing the virus responsible for this epidemic. Sadasivan, a neurosurgeon himself, warned Indian officials of the seriousness of SARS and recommended that there should be no any let up in taking precautionary measures.While New Delhi has not yet issued a formal travel advisory against visiting SARS-affected countries, it has been keeping a close watch on the situation. It is understood that New Delhi does not want to make a political instrument of a travel advisory given the ramifications this may have on the economy and tourism of these countries. Moreover, with the World Health Organisation’s alert on SARS already put out, India does not see the need to issue an advisory immediately.However, countries in South East Asia have been taking stringent precautions to prevent the spread of SARS. With a ‘‘conspiracy of silence’’ being maintained by Beijing on the spread of the virus, Malaysia has banned issuing of tourist visas to Chinese travellers.Brunei has gone ahead and put out strict travel advisories to its citizens against visiting China, Vietnam and Singapore. In fact, Brunei has introduced an amendment to its Health and Environment Safety Act which makes it mandatory for any person showing the slightest symptoms of SARS to immediately report to the nearest hospital.With SARS assuming epidemic proportions, sources said a similar step could be taken by India too. In case the situation worsens, other measures like opening an anti-SARS hospital next to international airports will also be considered.Countries like Brunei have already asked aircraft operating from its territory not to recycle air within the plane but to allow full air circulation. While this escalates operating costs for flights, it is another measure New Delhi will have to consider in case SARS refuses to die away.
