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Politics may taint country's SARS team

The public has gained confidence in the government since Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), vice convener of the Cabinet's SARS Control and Relief Committee, Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), director-general of the Department of Health (DOH), and Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), director of the Center for Disease Control, took their posts to battle the SARS outbreak. The professionalism of the three academics is highly acknowledged. They should be able to build a better public health system from a professional perspective so as to effectively battle the disease.

During an anti-SARS meeting, both Chen and Chang Heng (張珩), another medical expert who recently took over as director of Taipei City's Bureau of Health, revealed their true feelings and wept when they talked about the fight against the disease. People must have been touched when they saw this. They must have felt lucky to have these professional and sincere heroes willing to serve at the front line when the island is severely challenged by the epidemic.

Most people are unaware of these academics' professional achievements. However, on the one hand, they trust the scientific community more, believing that it follows more objective and stricter standards. On the other hand, these academics are not as slippery as most politicians when they talk. As a result, the audience gets a sense of trust when watching them announcing the latest SARS statistics or teaching people how to prevent the disease.

Still, since they are involved in politics now, are they capable of dealing with political issues? Didn't Lee resign his post as the DOH director-general last year due to his "politically incorrect" National Health Insurance premium hikes?

The public distrusts some government officials because they are far too political. Will these academics fail to accomplish their tasks because they are not political enough? It's particularly worrisome that if these experts at the front line eventually step down for political reasons, the public will be even more disappointed with the government.

My worries are not groundless. From Chen's failure to attend a WHA meeting in Geneva, to his department's criticism of the WHO after the organization delayed removing Taiwan from its travel-warning list and Chen's negative reaction to PFP Legislator Kao Ming-chien's (高明見) attendance at a WHO meeting, these experts' political wisdom worries me.

Chen and his colleagues have worked so hard to battle the epidemic. But they have been treated unfairly by the WHO while also facing Beijing's dirty tricks. Their discontent is understandable. But the public expects them to accomplish the SARS prevention work, not to wage a diplomatic war. Didn't Chen know that he was not allowed to participate in the WHA meeting before his departure? Why did the DOH hold a press conference to recklessly condemn the WHO for not lifting its travel warning on Taiwan while the department itself was not aware of the complete information? Why didn't Chen attack Kao for not representing Taiwan until the latter arrived in Kuala Lumpur for the WHO meeting? What good will this do, apart from turning Taiwan into a joke in front of the world, while causing a war of words domestically?

The public does not expect our medical experts to become political bureaucrats. But it is hoped that they can have enough political wisdom to deal with political problems. If they can't develop such wisdom in a short time, the government leaders who pushed them to the front line should protect them from being hurt by politics.

Ku Er-teh is a freelance writer.

TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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