Doctor who warned world about SARS dies of SARS

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Published on March 29, 2023 2:00:00 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8c9Y3ZoTv0

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The 46 year old Italian was the World Health Organization's representative in the Western Pacific and was called in to investigate a cluster of pneumonia cases in a Vietnamese hospital February 2003.



He quickly concluded that whatever had infected the people there was something new to science and potentially very dangerous.


In the weeks that followed he worked with the Vietnamese authorities and medical staff in an attempt to contain the disease, unfortunately he was infected along with dozens of other healthcare workers during this time and died after being evacuated to Thailand.


His relatively early warning and his work until he fell ill is credited with helping to minimize the spread of SARS which otherwise might have gone unnoticed for far longer


Urbani had spent a big chunk of his career working in the poorest countries and had fought pharmaceutical companies pricing policies in an attempt to keep the drugs that treated things like HIV/AIDS and malaria affordable for the poorest people.


In 2018, WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus unveiled a plaque in Dr Urbani’s memory at WHO headquarters in Geneva in a ceremony attended by his widow and their 3 children..