No relief for the weary

Although the tsunami never reached Canadian shores, it has nevertheless touched us in a big way. This is especially true for those of us with family and friends in countries that were hit. The disturbing images and alarming rise in the daily death toll sparked many Canadians into immediate action. Canada's medical community's overwhelming response to the relief effort is nothing short of exemplary.

So many health providers volunteered their services that organizations like Doctors Without Borders could barely keep up. However, only experienced volunteers are being sent over. The presence of foreign medical personnel who don't speak the local language and aren't familiar with conditions in these countries isn't helpful for now. In fact, they may only add to the burden of relief workers, adding to the number of people who need to be fed and sheltered. The demand for physicians and other health professionals, however, will rise dramatically in the event of an outbreak of cholera, typhoid fever or malaria. A scary thought indeed — yet how likely is the threat of a massive epidemic?

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that outbreaks of disease could double the current death toll. While there is the potential for smaller outbreaks of disease, I highly doubt that it will reach such a scale. Why? Well for one, diseases endemic to these regions are likely to affect relief workers more than anyone else as the local population would be immune to most of them already. As for the health risk from exposure to dead bodies, there's little evidence to show that they pose a big problem, especially because victims did not die of an infectious disease. Besides, local officials have made the disposal of bodies a top priority. The biggest health risk is probably from waterborne illnesses, but this is steadily receding as more medical aid reaches the affected regions. In fact, the flow of clean water supplies is going so smoothly that the United Nations hasn't had to implement their plan to combat waterborne diseases.

The WHO's prediction of a massive epidemic only serves to foster more media fear mongering. Networks that thrive on scare tactics like Fox News have been only too eager to run with this story — after all if it bleeds, it leads. International health agencies like the WHO have to be more careful with their risk assessments and avoid blowing them out of proportion. The focus now should be on helping the survivors of the disaster rebuild their lives. They're dealing with enormous psychological stress and mental anguish already. Sensationalist news coverage and the WHO's obvious overstatement will only add to this burden. Haven't these victims suffered enough?

—Shereen Joseph, Editor