Department rejects claim over SARS plan

The Department of Health has rejected claims that it is failing to implement a contingency plan in the event of a SARS emergency.

A spokesman said the expert group set up by the Department to deal with the crisis was due to meet tomorrow to discuss a strategy for the Special Olympics.

He said the Department was constantly monitoring the situation and was in regular contact with the World Health Organisation.

Irish General Practitioners had described the recent revelations concerning SARS in China and worldwide as 'very alarming'.

They warned that there are no contingency plans in place at the moment in the event of a SARS emergency in Ireland.

Public health doctors, who are involved in controlling infectious diseases like SARS, have been on strike since last Monday, over conditions of service and pay.

A spokesman for the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr James Reilly, said GPs who may treat patients with possible SARS symptoms are not in a position to access information and expert advice on the infectious disease, contrary to reports by the Department of Health and Children.

Dr Reilly said that new infectious diseases, which resulted in high mortality, needed to be monitored by experts and that in turn, that information and guidelines should be made available to GPs promptly.

Labour demands SARS strategy

The Labour Party said the Minister for Health was putting Irish people at risk by failing to come up with a strategy to deal with a SARS outbreak here.

Labour's spokesperson on Health, Liz McManus, said the Minister needed to take action as there was a clear acceleration in the rate of SARS internationally.

She said the return of Chinese students after the Easter break also had to be considered.

Ms McManus urged Micheál Martin to be pro-active in dealing with the Special Olympics.'We have to ensure there is a strategy in place to combat this threat,' she added.