Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) scares have subsided as the death toll remains at 35, with 186 people diagnosed with the disease. A total of 689 are in isolation, but that is significantly down from figures in June that peaked at 6,729 people.
It may be too early to comment definitively on this relatively new respiratory disease, but unless some contingencies arise, Korea can now assess what went wrong and what can be done from now on.
The word coming from the political sphere is that an expansion of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) should take place to better deal with epidemics. They also call for a vice minister exclusively responsible for health at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. These steps were no doubt mentioned because of the widely known lapses in Korea's initial response.
The fact there was no control tower to steer the country's reaction to MERS caused an overlapping of agencies and various health organizations. Tinkering with government bodies may seem like the right response for some, but such issues need time and public hearings to be pursued.
While organizational restructuring may help, it is how those structures work in tandem with the personnel involved that is most important. Already, government officials are seemingly not cooperating with the National Assembly's special committee on MERS in submitting document required for an assessment. The "secrecy" or non-disclosure of an accurate list of hospitals was a big culprit in Korea's MERS outbreak.
Before an organizational revamp is undertaken, Korea must first find out what went wrong and how it went wrong. Priorities can then be reset.
Fortunately, the so-called MERS law passed through the National Assembly this month. That will allow for Korea to draft necessary measures to tackle emerging new epidemics, which are inevitable as the world becomes even more globalized. What Korea needs to do first and foremost is increase the number of epidemiology experts, which currently stands at 32.
The main cause of Korea's inadequate MERS response was its laxity in the initial stages of the outbreak. With the "MERS law," Korea should set up network of alert systems among authorities, hospitals and local and regional governments to deal with epidemics. Korea needs to lay down the basics for controlling epidemics.
It may be too early to comment definitively on this relatively new respiratory disease, but unless some contingencies arise, Korea can now assess what went wrong and what can be done from now on.
The word coming from the political sphere is that an expansion of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) should take place to better deal with epidemics. They also call for a vice minister exclusively responsible for health at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. These steps were no doubt mentioned because of the widely known lapses in Korea's initial response.
The fact there was no control tower to steer the country's reaction to MERS caused an overlapping of agencies and various health organizations. Tinkering with government bodies may seem like the right response for some, but such issues need time and public hearings to be pursued.
While organizational restructuring may help, it is how those structures work in tandem with the personnel involved that is most important. Already, government officials are seemingly not cooperating with the National Assembly's special committee on MERS in submitting document required for an assessment. The "secrecy" or non-disclosure of an accurate list of hospitals was a big culprit in Korea's MERS outbreak.
Before an organizational revamp is undertaken, Korea must first find out what went wrong and how it went wrong. Priorities can then be reset.
Fortunately, the so-called MERS law passed through the National Assembly this month. That will allow for Korea to draft necessary measures to tackle emerging new epidemics, which are inevitable as the world becomes even more globalized. What Korea needs to do first and foremost is increase the number of epidemiology experts, which currently stands at 32.
The main cause of Korea's inadequate MERS response was its laxity in the initial stages of the outbreak. With the "MERS law," Korea should set up network of alert systems among authorities, hospitals and local and regional governments to deal with epidemics. Korea needs to lay down the basics for controlling epidemics.
