A report commissioned by the Hong Kong government into the handling of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) found that its efforts were hampered by the lack of timely information from neighbouring Guangdong province.

The investigation into the outbreak, which infected 1755 people and killed 299, was conducted by a panel of international experts and co-chaired by Sir Cyril Chantler, senior associate at the UK health research charity the King's Fund, and Professor Sian Griffiths, president of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians.

A document detailing the outbreak of …