The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Friday supporting Taiwan's "appropriate and meaningful" participation in the World Health Organization (WHO).
The resolution, if signed by President Bill Clinton, would compel Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to report to Congress before the end of the year on efforts made by the US toward allowing Taiwan's increased participation in international organizations for which statehood is not a requirement.
As part of its 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, the Clinton administration promised to actively support Taiwan's membership in international organizations that accept non-states as members.
The resolution passed on Friday states that Taiwan should have "appropriate and meaningful participation in the World Health Organization," although it stops short of calling for full-fledged membership.
It cites recent advancements in Taiwan's public health system, as well as the willingness of both the Taiwan government and its medical establishment to participate in the organization's activities.
Responding to the resolution's passage, the Department of Health applauded the resolution yesterday, and thanked Taiwan lobby groups as well as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington for its efforts toward pushing for its successful passage.
Groups such as the Medical Professionals' Alliance in Taiwan (醫界聯盟) have been pushing for Taiwan's participation in the WHO for many years, arguing that health is a basic human right, and that the issue of Taiwan's participation should not be linked to politics.
Over the past two years, Taiwan has been hit by two major epidemics, both of which have had implications for national health and the economy.
A bout of foot-and-mouth disease wiped out much of the island's pork export market in the spring of 1997, during which 2.85 million pigs either died or were put to death.
Later the same year, an outbreak of enterovirus-71 -- a stomach virus affecting mostly youngsters -- left dozens of children dead before being brought under control.
The impact of both, experts argue, could have been lessened if Taiwan had been able to participate in the WHO.
Taiwan's entry into the world body faces the same problems it does with other organizations, namely objections from China, and the adherence by its allies to the "one China" policy.
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