As you may know, in my practice I represent the Association of Local Public Health Agencies  (alPHa), the umbrella organization for the 35 public health units in Ontario. I represented alPHa at the Walkerton Water Inquiry. 

Public health provides the foundation for the quality of life that we enjoy in Canada and Ontario. I am honoured and proud of my small involvement. Most of the time public health is invisible. 

It is times like the current coronavirus situation that the role of public health comes to the attention of most of us. The following article by the Toronto Star’s Shawn Micallef recounts the role of Dr. Sheela Basrur  in the SARS crisis and also provides a succinct overview of the role of public health and the importance of maintaining a strong public health system that at this time I want to share with you.

I have provided an excerpt from the article and encourage you to click on the link to read the full article about the inspiring courage and dedication of Dr. Basrur.

Why Sheela Basrur, the doctor who guided us through the SARS crisis, is a Toronto hero 

From the Toronto Star, February 1, 2020 by Shawn Micallef. Shawn Micallef is a Toronto-based writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. 

She’s one of Toronto’s great heroes.

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Nearly every day during the height of the SARS outbreak in 2003, Dr. Sheela Basrur, Toronto’s then medical officer of health, led a news conference that told the city what was being done and what people could do.

It was broadcast on multiple channels and it was not uncommon to find people gathered around TV screens in public watching, as if it was the moon landing, though the collective interest was motivated by fear rather than wonder.

One thing people could do themselves was not panic, and Basrur was the epitome of fact-based calm. She was the one who kept Toronto together during an extremely difficult time.

The effects of SARS on the city can’t be underestimated, and went well beyond the emergency measures at area hospitals. Retail was hurt. Tourism dried up. Hot Docs, the documentary film festival, had to scramble to fill places on discussion panels because people opted not to make the journey to Toronto.

The World Health Organization even issued a non-essential travel warning for Toronto, prompting one of then-mayor Mel Lastman’s infamous quotes. “Who is the WHO?” he said on CNN. “They don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t know who this group is. I never heard of them before. I’d never seen them before.”

There was additional fallout. A 2004 report titled “Yellow Peril Revisited: Impact of SARS on the Chinese and Southeast Asian Canadian Communities” by researcher Carrianne Leung looked at the “social crisis” that came along with the health crisis. This included alienation, discrimination and harassment of Chinese and Asian Canadians as well as economic impacts on their businesses and job prospects. The crisis also “took a mental, psychological and emotional toll on members of these communities.”

Sadly, history seems to be repeating itself with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Basrur would go on to be chief medical officer for Ontario but died in 2008 at age 51 from cancer. There ought to be a major memorial for her in this city. Right now, a tree planted near the northeast corner of Queen’s Park Crescent and Grosvenor Street has a small plaque dedicated to her, but I’d donate money for a fitting, bigger and more prominent memorial.

Please click here if you would like to read the full article on the Toronto Star website.