The old Quarantine Act hasn't
been substantially updated since 1872, when Around
the World in Eighty Days was science fiction and contagious
diseases were spread internationally via cargo ship. So
with epidemics like SARS and avian flu wreaking international
havoc, the once mighty sword of the Quarantine Officer
was starting to look a bit more like a paring knife.
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Out
with the old, in with the new
Under the old Quarantine
Act, the minister of health can:
•
Screen travellers entering and leaving Canada
for infectious diseases
•
Refer sick travellers to a Quarantine Officer
to conduct an initial health assessment, order
a medical examination, vaccination or other prophylactic
measures
•
Detain any person who refuses a medical examination,
vaccination, etc
• Inspect
conveyances (airplanes and cargo ships) and issue
decontamination and destruction orders
•
Detain passengers or conveyances until there is
no longer a risk to public health
Under the revised Quarantine
Act, the minister of health would also be able
to:
•
Appoint Screening
Officers, Quarantine Officers and Environmental
Assessment Officers
•
Establish quarantine facilities at any location
in Canada
•
Take temporary possession of premises to use as
detention facilities
• Divert
conveyances to alternate landing sites
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Dr Eleanor Fish, a professor in
the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto,
thinks that any proactive effort to address outbreaks
is a step in the right direction. "You want to identify
the potential for an outbreak, and you want to be able
to contain it in a rapid and efficient manner," she
says. "It's not just a matter of perception, that the
government has got to be seen to be doing it. It has
to be done in an organized and reasonable fashion."
There had been plans to overhaul
the Quarantine Act for quite some time and changes were
originally slated to be introduced in 2005, but the
SARS fiasco pushed the issue to the front burner. On
May 12, Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew introduced
legislation that would significantly update the Act,
giving the Ministry and Quarantine Officers sweeping
new powers. The intention, according to Health Canada
spokesperson Aggie Adamczyk, is that "the updated Quarantine
Act will add an additional layer of protection by providing
strong, flexible, up-to-date legislative tools that
will allow us to respond quickly to prevent the import
and export of communicable diseases." The update would
also bring Canada's Act in line with proposed revisions
to the World Health Organization's International
Health Regulations.
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