Media representatives called to a press conference for an update on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, were instead presented with a "protocol" on how information should be accessed.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis announced that media personnel would have to obtain authorization from Director of Public Health, Dr. Baldwin Carey before speaking to any other health official on SARS findings.
Dr. Carey was not in attendance at the meeting, held at the Ministry of Health offices on Meeting Street on Tuesday afternoon.
The government has also contracted a Canadian infectious disease expert to advise on adequate precautionary measures.
Dr. Dahl-Regis said that media protocol was established to encourage "responsible journalism" and discourage "misleading, and false reporting" to avoid a threat to national security and the tourism industry.
Press members, pointing out that since officials were not always accessible, they had to resort to getting information from whoever was available.
Ministry of Health Officials said that a SARS update will be given on Friday.
To date, The Bahamas has had no confirmed cases of SARS, although two persons have been quarantined. No visitors have as yet been denied entry.
"In The Bahamas, we are faced with not only a challenge on how to manage SARS, given the presentation at our different ports, but how to report on it," Dr. Dahl-Regis said.
"You are all aware that there has been false reporting of cases of SARS. Now what has this done? We are not talking about media credibility, we are talking about a national security issue. Should we have a presentation of SARS, and it is confirmed, I think we have to look at information dissemination of that as well – a confirmed case," Dr. Dahl-Regis said.
There is a very active surveillance programme implemented by the Ministry, she stated, and "SARS reporting must come through the Director of Public Health, Dr. Baldwin Carey. He heads the surveillance unit; he heads all aspects of port health, port control and all the activities that go outside the institutions that provide services in all the communities."
She said that it was "irresponsible," particularly considering the "sensitive" nature of the SARS epidemic, to be reporting non-validated information.
"But if there are rumours of cases, I think that we ought not to report them," she continued. "But I am here to engage in dialogue in this. We also want to know what are your difficulties with accessing information from the Ministry of Health, because we have established a communication process here, should you need information about SARS, or if you want to confirm anything that you have heard. We have a contact person and number for you to access that information," she said.
Press personnel were also given telephone contact numbers for the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Baldwin Carey, Dr. Evaneth McPhee, Dr. Kayla Musgrove, Medical Officers of the Department of Public Health and Epidemiologist Dr. Mohammed Imana, also of the Department of Public Health.
But any information obtained about SARS and the MOH's procedures in this regard should be corroborated by Dr. Carey or other health officials before being reported, Dr. Dahl-Regis said.
"We thought that it is important for us to have a media dialogue about the processes for information dissemination with SARS, recognizing the competitive nature of the media," but requested that only confirmed cases of SARS in the country, and not suspected cases, be reported.
"Putting a microphone in front of someone's face who's a health worker, and having that person speak, you run into difficulties with this particular medical condition," she said, "because there are lots of rumours, suspected cases, probable cases – but confirmed cases I think are what you should be reporting on. Although Dr. (Perry) Gomez is in charge of Infectious Diseases at the Hospital, information on the confirmation of SARS should come through the Department of Public Health," Dr. Dahl-Regis said.
Chief of Infectious Diseases of the Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Stanley Read, who has recently completed six intensive weeks in SARS seminars in Canada, said that although the disease can live for days without a host, it is not all that easy to contract in public.
"You have to be careful about some of these reports on how long it can live. It is important though that it can live for a considerable period of time, which means that if someone coughs in their hands and opens a door, and you open the door and put your hand in your mouth, you could get infected. The secret is, keep your hand away from your face," Dr. Read said.
Simple personal hygiene such as washing hands and covering the mouth could help prevent the spread of the disease, the expert advised.
A surveillance group formed by the Ministry of Health comprises officials of the Department of Immigration, the Customs Department the Hospital Authority and the airline industry and is expected to include representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The group now meets on a weekly basis at the Ministry of Health to discuss plans for the management of SARS, Dr. Dahl-Regis said.
She advised that at the 11th Annual Caribbean Chief Medical Officers Meeting held in Nassau last week, it was agreed to standardize the SARS questionnaires, with the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre agreeing to print the color-coded forms.
By Vanessa C. Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
