I hear some noise in the House. Is it just me? In any case, it is annoying me.
Our priority is to protect the health and welfare of Canadians.
The member, in her question on March 21, asked if the Minister of Health had met with her provincial counterparts. My main message is that the minister and all those involved at the federal level are working day and night with their provincial, territorial and international partners to ensure that measures are in place to contain the spread of SARS.
We are actively working with our partners in the six targeted sectors: investigation, diagnosis, laboratory, infection control, travel treatment and emergency response.
Let me elaborate on how the minister has co-operated not only with her provincial counterparts but also with all the authorities involved in this issue. We have implemented measures at airports, and these measures are improved as required to stop the spread of SARS.
We have sent 14 epidemiologist and infectious disease experts to Toronto to take part in the analysis. At the national microbiology laboratory and elsewhere, our experts and the scientific community are doing active research to find the cause of SARS in order to develop an effective diagnostic test while examining the possibility of developing a vaccine.
We have implemented measures to protect our blood system. We have provided detailed clinical directives to prevent infection. We have made recommendations regarding measures to be taken in public health care institutions.
We just completed today a meeting with international experts in Toronto to review what is known about SARS. This conference was called by the federal health minister. On the national stage, Canada was one of the first countries to follow up on the WHO recommendations regarding passenger screening. The WHO has recognized the transparency that we have shown in this matter.
We will continue our relentless efforts to stop the spread of SARS and to protect the health of Canadians. Obviously, other things will surface because there is still a lot of unknown with regard to this issue. However, the important thing is to continue working together to contain this disease, which we have already done since all cases have been tracked to the initial point.