A group of French senators friendly to Taiwan issued a statement on Thursday saying that it regrets Taiwan's continuing exclusion from the World Health Organization (WHO), and hoped that the World Health Assembly could find a solution when its annual conference convenes in Geneva next month.
The statement was issued to coincide with World Health Day. It came one day after Minister of Health Ho Sheng-mao (侯勝茂) visited the French Senate in Paris.
The group, consisting of 45 senators from several political parties, said it regretted that the 23 million people of Taiwan had been excluded from the global disease-prevention information system.
In the statement, the group said it hoped that a solution to the problem could be found during the 58th World Health Assembly, the WHO's policymaking body, which meets from May 16 to May 25.
Noting that the slogan of this year's World Health Day is "make every mother and child count," the group said every mother and child in Taiwan should also count.
The statement also said that in view of infectious diseases in Asia, France should adjust its foreign policy to support Taiwan's bid to attend technical meetings and activities of the WHO.
Ho's trip to Europe has included visits to Zurich, Paris, Brussels and Luxembourg. He spoke to reporters and think tanks in Brussels on Thursday, stressing that the WHO was flawed without Taiwan's participation.
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