Legacy of the SARS outbreak(3)

Credibility crunch

The government's credibility took a major blow. Zhang and the former mayor of Beijing Meng Xuelong were later sacked. The government issued a regulation on information disclosure and instructions on risk communications. In 2006, the Ministry of Health issued a notice requiring health departments at different levels to give regular updates on contagious diseases and emergencies.

Chen Tiansi, a reporter at China National Radio, said she was impressed by how the authorities responded and disclosed information during the A H1N1 outbreak in 2009.

Chen, who covered health issues between 2008 and 2010, said there were daily news conferences and the health authorities kept in close contact with the media. Information about latest cases and disease prevention was immediately available while the spokespersons and experts fielded questions directly.

"I think the authorities responded very rapidly and were open and transparent during the A H1N1 outbreak," said Chen.

"The government established some principles and mechanisms, which is good, but in practice, things haven't changed completely," Yu noted.

In some cases, information disclosure remains slow and coverups still happen, such as during coal mine accidents. In April 2011, truck drivers dumped toxic waste that contained chromium close to a river in Qujing, Yunnan Province. The local government covered it up for months, by which time the chromium had contaminated the drinking water supply.

However, since SARS, public health experts like Zeng are able to weigh in more on policymaking. While acknowledging the improvements, Zeng said that there are still many challenges ahead. "Our administrators and policymakers still need to raise awareness about public health issues, and our people need to be better educated," he said.

There have been many public health issues over the past decade, including food safety, poisonous pill capsules, and disease prevention after major natural disasters such as earthquakes.

"On the one hand, we are able to respond to these incidents better than before, but how to prevent such things from happening is a much bigger issue concerning our system, our honesty, and our mode of development," said Zeng.

But like many other experts, Zeng is confident that if a crisis like SARS were to come again, the country would be much better prepared.