Inside the 2003 SARS outbreak - who was really to blame?

NOTE: This documentary originally aired November 18, 2003

On November 23, 2002, officials with the World Health Organization attended an influenza conference in Beijing. And so began the story of the WHO and SARS – three crucial months before the disease was unleashed on the world. Disclosure takes a closer look at opportunities missed by the WHO.

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How did the word first get out about SARS? What role did the WHO play? They could have issued a global alert. They could have warned the rest of the world to screen travellers coming from Guangdong Province. But they didn’t. In the end, the WHO fell back on protocol.

Almost as quickly as the virus spread, the demand for answers grew. It was becoming clear the disease had been festering for months in southern China. Why had there been no warnings, no alerts? How was the virus allowed to escape to Hong Kong and from there to so many places around the world?

A steadfast and determined World Health Organization, fighting off a mysterious and deadly disease, all in the face of enormous Chinese secrecy … That’s the image the WHO has worked hard to cultivate. But take a closer look at the period before the SARS crisis and a very different picture images. The fact is, China and the WHO have had a close working relationship for years.

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[TaufiqSafdar]

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

[jasonisjasondoes]

Who's watching this in 2020? When the exact same thing happened again. Even down the month, are you kidding me?

[keyoz]

After such a major disease like Sars, they should have taken more strict measures. I do not understand why humanity never learns.

[lunalovegood]

13:18 So the world learned about SARS not from China and WHO, but from a concerned responsible citizens. tsk tsk
Thank you Dr. Seteven

[elsiegrace]

Enough is enough... SARS and now Corvid 19.. OMG!!! What will it take for US ALL to stand up and fight for our lives.. and our families lives.. The Chinese Wild-Animal Industry and Wet Markets Must

[gushernandez]

The same story except this time, it has spread much more successfully.

[breeeezzyyyy]

As long as we have politicians that put business before the people, we will never learn from situations like this

[cindys]

Different year, diferent disease (COVID19) - Same timeframe, SAME cause, SAME effect. Perhaps we should operate differently??? Now, there's a novel idea!

[mariawong]

Really like this reporter! Outspoken and professional,

[ethimself]

Wellll, China could substantially increase the health regulations for the food system and the distribution system.

[curiousgirl]

WHO with an annual budget of $2.2B?? What did u do with that money??

[wadejohnston]

You can not follow up on every outbreak he says. THATS LITERALLY YOUR JOB!

[LatestTrendShorts]

I came here to compare the reaction of news reports to now of the coronavirus and it’s scary the same. Almost as if it’s planned.

[avocadodip]

Why can’t we just ban flights to China and out of ?

[cruisertechgt]

I only recently thought the WHO was too political because I did not know about what happened in SARS I was too young. This video truly explains the problems of the WHO, and we will see another video about Covid-19 SARS2 in the future. The WHO took too long to declare Pandemic and now Italy and so many other countries are suffering . People are dying because countries rely on the WHOs word

[kymieemmanuel]

They had ample situations before this to correct their reaction to pandemics, they choose to let this spread and claim lives.

[eggcellentperson]

I'm shooked that I did not give up my dream of becoming a doctor even though its Corona. (I'm 14)

[pianowhizz]

SARS-1: 3 month delay in reporting
SARS-2: 2 month delay in reporting
We're improving, next time we'll be right on top of it :)

[mikecorbeil]

Very fine report, appreciated! I think that it's definitely good to INFORM the general public in this manner. Why? Well, not sure, people may have varying reasons, but as for myself, and to keep this simple, I appreciate being informed about risks to health. It's quite sad that many people were badly infected with SARS when info. about it was known as of Nov. 2002, but it took months for the health "autorities" to do what they evidently should've done from the start, early anyway. It might be interesting, however, to get more info. about the relationship between such health problems and non-human animals, such as for explanations about the " Why and how? ", f.e.

[Peepers]

Those markets are horror stories and should be banned