Dr. Sheela Basrur, former Toronto Medical Officer of Health

SARS in Toronto

Basrur is famous for SARS. On Feb. 21, 2003, a man from mainland China visiting Hong Kong infected his sister, who returned to Toronto and infected her son. Over the next three months, 375 people in Ontario contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome, 300,000 were quarantined and 44 died.

When the two Ontario officials proved incompetent to lead the crisis, Basrur stepped forward. She issued protocols to contain the infection, and at daily press briefings became the chief source of public information, delivered with calm reason.

On April 23, when the World Health Organization in Geneva rashly issued an advisory against travel to Toronto, Basrur responded with a lucid fact-by-fact rebuttal on the spread of the disease. "We absolutely do not have a medical emergency," she concluded, and events proved her right.

Source http://www.healthzone.ca/health/desilife/article/421939--sheela-basrur-s-incredible-journey

Sheela Basrur is a name held with beloved regard in Toronto. Though she might be little known to the rest of the world. Until the word SARS is mentioned.

Her leadership as Chief Medical Officer of Health in Toronto during the 2003 SARS crisis was phenomenal. The fatal disease was a mystery at the time and the country was unprepared for it. She was the face people came to know when they tuned in to the news for updates on the situation. Basrur was always calm, speaking to the masses in measured, reassuring tones and explaining SARS in a language that was always easy to understand.

Read her paper "SARS: A Local Public Health Perspective" in the Canadian Journal of Health http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/view/466/466

Sadly we loss Dr. Basrur on June 2, 2008 at the young age of 51 to leiomyosarcoma (LMS) a extremely rare form of cancer. There are only about 200 reported cases of this type of cancer in the world. Basrur was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in 2006, a form of cancer that attacks the vascular system. In December, after learning the disease had spread to her spine, lungs and liver, the doctor resigned from her provincial post. She underwent exhaustive treatment but in March, Basrur told her friends her battle was nearing its end. In April, the province honoured her work by awarding her the prestigious Order of Ontario for public service. She accepted the honour in a special ceremony by her hospital bed.

Read more about her battle with cancer http://www.thestar.com/News/article/281596

Dr. Basrur is an icon of selfless dedication. Her short-lived life was filled with achievements. Most notable are the Order of Ontario for her public service, her 2004 appointment as Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health in the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and an honorary doctor of laws degree from York University. A nursing oncology fellowship was established in Basrur's name by the Registered Nurses' Foundation of Ontario. The Ontario Public Health Association created an award for social justice in her honour (“Sheela Basrur Scholarship” for Public Health students). The headquarters of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion is known as the Sheela Basrur Centre.

Other contributions:

Smoke-free Toronto: Instrumental in bringing about a city-wide anti-smoking bylaw that took effect June 1, 2004.

Pesticide Control: Led development of a Toronto bylaw restricting use of toxic pesticides.

Healthy Dining: Pushed the city to adopt the DineSafe program in 2001, requiring restaurants to post health inspection results in their windows, and setting the standard of transparency for many other Ontario health units.

Air Quality Health Index: Issued Condition Critical: Fixing the Smog Warning System (2001), which led to a more accurate tool for reducing health risk during smog events. Also instrumental in developing a new national Air Quality Health Index.

Obesity: Wrote a stinging report on obesity in 2003 suggesting Torontonians have the lowest rate of physical activity in Ontario and calling for more city green space.

Child Environmental Protection: Helped establish the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment, a national coalition to reduce exposure to toxic substances by children.

Coal Plant Closing: Produced studies on the health effects associated with toxic emissions from the Lakeview Power Plant on Toronto's doorstep, helping to close it in 2005.

Smog alert: Released a report in May 2000 linking air pollution to 1,000 premature deaths and 5,500 hospital admissions in Toronto every year. The study led to the annual Smog Summit of federal, provincial and municipal governments.

Smoke-free Ontario: Led the push for one of the toughest anti-smoking strategies in North America, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act of May 31, 2006.

So I wrote this hub to simply say, "We'll never forget your beautiful spirit, Sheela." And ... the world needs more heroes like her.

Basrur was born in Toronto, Canada in 1956 to Indian immigrants Parvathi and Vasanth Basrur.After obtaining a Bachelor of Science from the University of Western Ontario in 1979, she received her doctor of medicine from the University of Toronto in 1982, after which Basrur worked as a general practitioner in Guelph for one year. She then spent a year in India and Nepal, where she became interested in public health. Upon returning to Canada, she obtained a Master of Health Science degree in 1987, specializing in community health and epidemiology, again from the University of Toronto. She then completed a post-graduate residency, becoming a specialist in community medicine, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto.

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheela_Basrur

Science was always part of her life. Her mother, Pari Basrur, was a veterinary genetics professor and her father, Vasanth Basrur, a radiation oncologist. Growing up, Basrur recalled being the only minority family in town at the time and creating a stir when she and her sari-clad mother walked down the street.

Source http://www.thestar.com/News/Obituary/article/435883