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Different tack needed on WHO bid

Every May, Taiwan suffers an outbreak of World Health Organization (WHO) fever. Billions of dollars are spent on WHO-related public relations activities every year, but the US' response to these efforts is that it is "not interested in these symbolic goals." This has increased the sense of collective frustration among Taiwanese.

This year, Taiwan failed in its ninth bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, a failure that had been predicted both locally and in the US. The government could only placate the public by commenting on the nation's inclusion in the revised International Health Regulation, which call for "universal application."

In fact, the government renounced its determination to strive for WHO membership in February and switched gears to focus on participating in the WHO's "practical tasks," rather than becoming a member.

Having nursed the dream of becoming a WHO member for 10 years, how is it that we now find ourself at this impasse? Following the failure of the latest WHA bid, we must take a good hard look at our strategies for participation in international organizations.

The WHA is the WHO's supreme decision-making body. WHA rules of procedure stipulate that the director-general can invite countries or territories that have applied for WHO membership -- but have not yet been admitted -- to send observers to the WHA. In other words, "observership" is for those who have not yet obtained membership, but have already applied for it.

Being an observer is not a transitional status for applicant countries or territories, which means that there is no such thing as a procedure to "become" an observer. And the argument that observer status does not touch on issues of national sovereignty simply doesn't hold up. According to Article 3 of the WHO Constitution, "membership in the organization shall be open to all states," and is not limited to members of the UN. So other than the sovereignty issue, what other excuses does China have to obstruct Taiwan's WHO bid?

To create an opportunity for the WHO director-general to invite Taiwan to attend the WHA as an observer, Taiwan must first formally submit its application for membership. Despite China's opposition, the WHO director-general has the right, before Taiwan becomes a formal member of this organization, to "invite" it to attend all sorts of meetings held by the WHA without having to ask the 192 WHO member states to take a vote on this issue.

According to Article 47 of the WHA rules of procedure, with the chairman's invitation and the consent of the assembly, an observer can raise a topic for discussion, access related documents and information if it is permitted by the chairman and the assembly, and even submit a memorandum to the director-general. Except for the right to vote and take up a post, the right of an observer is not much different from that of a member country.

In this case, prior to Taiwan and China settling the sovereignty dispute, Taiwan's eligibility for WHO membership can be discussed every year, although there certainly will not be any results achieved in a short period of time. But, as long as the WHO director-general sends an invitation to Taiwan every year, Taipei can dispatch an observer to attend the WHA. If China decides to obstruct Taiwan's bid to attend the meeting as an observer, it has to win approval of half or even two-thirds of all the members.

We cannot but wonder why those leading the country's drive to gain entry into the WHO have not adopted this approach.

If Taiwan had sent its membership application to the WHO, the director-general would have to invite Taiwanese representatives to attend its meetings. To do otherwise would violate Article 1 of the WHO's regulations, which states that "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being."

If a gap appeared in global disease prevention as a result of the WHO's failure to comply with this regulation, then it would be the organization's fault rather than Taiwan's.

Moreover, according to WHO regulations, even if Taiwan is not a member, it still has the right to participate in the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific. Since the regional committee is a branch of an international organization and is not composed of local governments, Taiwan could not be characterized as a local government as a result of its participation.

If the WHO still rejects Taiwan's applications for membership, the government should consolidate its WHO-related budget, which is valued at NT$3 billion (US$95.8 million) annually, and carefully spend it on global health issues, such as post-disaster disease prevention, tuberculosis, malaria or smallpox control, global inoculation effort, large-scale influenza prevention and strategies to tackle cancer and antibiotic resistance, public health issues related to alcohol abuse, ageing, social health insurance and other issues that were discussed in the WHA this year.

In the course of 10 years, Taiwan's contribution to the improvement of global health will reach NT$30 billion. Taiwan's contributions to world health will be so significant that the WHO director-general will not be able to ignore the nation anymore.

Lai Shin-yuan is a Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator.

TRANSLATED BY YA-TI LIN AND DANIEL CHENG
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