Two Hong Kong politicians resign in wake of SARS report
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《英国医生杂志》
A report from Hong Kong抯 legislators criticising the government抯 handling of last year抯 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has led to two resignations.
Hong Kong抯 secretary for health, welfare, and food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, and the chairman of the Hospital Authority, Dr Leong Che-hung, have resigned in the wake of a report from a select committee of Hong Kong抯 legislative council. Last year抯 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong infected 1755 people and killed 299.
The report strongly criticised Dr Yeoh for not being sufficiently alert when an outbreak of atypical pneumonia occurred in Guangdong province, China, in early 2003, and for poor communication with the public at the start of the outbreak. He was also censured for failing to adequately supervise the head of the Department of Health, Dr Margaret Chan, and for failing to properly monitor the Hospital Authority.
Dr Leong was blamed for the authority抯 failure to put in place adequate contingency plans to deal with a large outbreak of an infectious disease. The report also criticised two senior staff members at the authority, its chief executive, Dr William Ho Shiu-wei, and its director of professional services and public affairs, Dr Ko Wing-man, as well as Dr Chan, who is now a director with the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Although Dr Yeoh, Dr Leong, and Dr Ho apologised immediately after the report was released on 5 July, none of them offered to resign. However, by 7 July Dr Yeoh gave way to public and political party pressure and resigned.
In his resignation letter he wrote: "The SARS outbreak last year was an extremely painful experience for Hong Kong . . . Personally, it was the most heartbreaking and taxing episode in my professional career . . . The emotions of the SARS outbreak have created intense debate in the community, which I fully understand.
"In particular, the issue of how the government should be politically accountable has become the main focus. It is, therefore, my decision that, in order to demonstrate my political accountability and to bring a closure to this painful episode, I should resign."
The next day Dr Leong followed suit and resigned from his unpaid post as chairman of the board of the Hospital Authority. "The board wishes to stress very strongly that we have a lot of bitter experience during the SARS crisis, from which we have learned a lot, that we have already made a lot of improvements. But I need to stress that the HA has made no mistake," he said.
Dr Leong抯 decision is seen as a way to protect senior staff at the authority. Dr Kwok Ka-ki, convener of the Action Group on Medical Policy, said: "I appreciate his gesture to shoulder all the responsibility, but it is logically unsound to say that the HA made no mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, and pretending the HA did not doesn抰 help it to adopt a better position and rectify those mistakes.
"E K Yeoh抯 resignation was a tragedy. In his 33 years as a civil servant he has contributed a lot, but in this job he is no longer a clinician or health administrator but a political officer, and from this angle he needed to go. However, I hope to see him contribute to public health again either in Hong Kong or overseas."
Some representatives of patients, however, say that the resignations have not gone far enough. "The other HA officials need to be punished," said Tim Pang, a patients?rights advocate from the Society for Community Organisation. "Even though SARS was a new disease, at the end of the day it was a test of the HA抯 abilities in crisis management and infection control. If they did not prepare well for a large scale infectious disease outbreak, then that is a neglect of duty."
The critical nature of the latest report contrasts with the stance taken by a report on the outbreak commissioned by the government and published in October 2003, which did not apportion blame to any individuals. Drawn up by a group known as the SARS expert committee, it highlighted major weaknesses in Hong Kong抯 preparedness for a major infectious disease outbreak (BMJ 2003;327:832). Since then the two doctors who chaired the committee, Cyril Chantler and Sian Griffiths, have monitored the implementation of the report抯 recommendations.
Commenting on the select committee抯 report, they said that much progress had been made in the past year to improve Hong Kong抯 readiness to cope with a public health emergency—notably the setting up of the Centre for Health Protection, the establishment of links with health authorities in Guangdong province, and better isolation facilities at hospitals.
"We are in no doubt that Hong Kong is better prepared to combat any epidemic than it was one year ago," they said in a joint statement. "We consider this important, because for the rest of the world Hong Kong抯 health system represents an important line of defence against the outbreak of new infectious diseases."(Hong Kong Jane Parry)
Hong Kong抯 secretary for health, welfare, and food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, and the chairman of the Hospital Authority, Dr Leong Che-hung, have resigned in the wake of a report from a select committee of Hong Kong抯 legislative council. Last year抯 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong infected 1755 people and killed 299.
The report strongly criticised Dr Yeoh for not being sufficiently alert when an outbreak of atypical pneumonia occurred in Guangdong province, China, in early 2003, and for poor communication with the public at the start of the outbreak. He was also censured for failing to adequately supervise the head of the Department of Health, Dr Margaret Chan, and for failing to properly monitor the Hospital Authority.
Dr Leong was blamed for the authority抯 failure to put in place adequate contingency plans to deal with a large outbreak of an infectious disease. The report also criticised two senior staff members at the authority, its chief executive, Dr William Ho Shiu-wei, and its director of professional services and public affairs, Dr Ko Wing-man, as well as Dr Chan, who is now a director with the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Although Dr Yeoh, Dr Leong, and Dr Ho apologised immediately after the report was released on 5 July, none of them offered to resign. However, by 7 July Dr Yeoh gave way to public and political party pressure and resigned.
In his resignation letter he wrote: "The SARS outbreak last year was an extremely painful experience for Hong Kong . . . Personally, it was the most heartbreaking and taxing episode in my professional career . . . The emotions of the SARS outbreak have created intense debate in the community, which I fully understand.
"In particular, the issue of how the government should be politically accountable has become the main focus. It is, therefore, my decision that, in order to demonstrate my political accountability and to bring a closure to this painful episode, I should resign."
The next day Dr Leong followed suit and resigned from his unpaid post as chairman of the board of the Hospital Authority. "The board wishes to stress very strongly that we have a lot of bitter experience during the SARS crisis, from which we have learned a lot, that we have already made a lot of improvements. But I need to stress that the HA has made no mistake," he said.
Dr Leong抯 decision is seen as a way to protect senior staff at the authority. Dr Kwok Ka-ki, convener of the Action Group on Medical Policy, said: "I appreciate his gesture to shoulder all the responsibility, but it is logically unsound to say that the HA made no mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, and pretending the HA did not doesn抰 help it to adopt a better position and rectify those mistakes.
"E K Yeoh抯 resignation was a tragedy. In his 33 years as a civil servant he has contributed a lot, but in this job he is no longer a clinician or health administrator but a political officer, and from this angle he needed to go. However, I hope to see him contribute to public health again either in Hong Kong or overseas."
Some representatives of patients, however, say that the resignations have not gone far enough. "The other HA officials need to be punished," said Tim Pang, a patients?rights advocate from the Society for Community Organisation. "Even though SARS was a new disease, at the end of the day it was a test of the HA抯 abilities in crisis management and infection control. If they did not prepare well for a large scale infectious disease outbreak, then that is a neglect of duty."
The critical nature of the latest report contrasts with the stance taken by a report on the outbreak commissioned by the government and published in October 2003, which did not apportion blame to any individuals. Drawn up by a group known as the SARS expert committee, it highlighted major weaknesses in Hong Kong抯 preparedness for a major infectious disease outbreak (BMJ 2003;327:832). Since then the two doctors who chaired the committee, Cyril Chantler and Sian Griffiths, have monitored the implementation of the report抯 recommendations.
Commenting on the select committee抯 report, they said that much progress had been made in the past year to improve Hong Kong抯 readiness to cope with a public health emergency—notably the setting up of the Centre for Health Protection, the establishment of links with health authorities in Guangdong province, and better isolation facilities at hospitals.
"We are in no doubt that Hong Kong is better prepared to combat any epidemic than it was one year ago," they said in a joint statement. "We consider this important, because for the rest of the world Hong Kong抯 health system represents an important line of defence against the outbreak of new infectious diseases."(Hong Kong Jane Parry)