The Department of Health plans to protest a decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to leave Taiwan off a list of a polio-free countries that was released in Kyoto, Japan on Sunday.
Thirty-seven countries in the western Pacific region were declared polio-free by the organization. China was also on the list, and Taiwan was included as a part of China.
"The success of polio eradication in Taiwan does not equate to China's situation," Lee Ming-liang (
The WHO said that polio had been eradicated in 37 countries, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. That led the group to declare the west Pacific region polio-free, the second region in the world since the Americas in 1994 to receive the designation.
Health officials noted yesterday that Taiwan has been polio-free since 1985, as there have been no reported cases since that year.
"But mainly for political reasons the WHO has overlooked Taiwan's accomplishment in polio eradication," Lee said.
Hsu Hsu-mei (
"But Taiwan is not a WHO member state and was excluded," Hsu said.
The Republic of China was one of the WHO's founding members and has donated funds to its worldwide polio eradication program.
"The WHO still allows political issues to distort recognition of Taiwan's achievement," members of the Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan (台灣醫界聯盟) said yesterday.
Health officials established the Taiwan Polio Eradication Certification Committee in 1996. Two years later, Tony Adams, chairman of the WHO's west Pacific regional operations, was invited to Taiwan to learn more about the eradication of polio in this country.
"The WHO de facto recognized Taiwan as polio-free, otherwise it wouldn't declare the west Pacific region as polio-free," Hsu said.
The WHO's list on Sunday did not include North Korea and Indonesia. Despite the WHO's political snubs, health department officials said yesterday that Taiwan was committed to helping the organization eradicate polio around the world by 2005.
"We've donated more than US$1 million through Rotary International to the WHO's worldwide polio eradication program last year," Hsu said. "Taiwan will donate US$10 million, divided between the government and Rotary International in Taiwan, to WHO in installments over five years."
But health officials noted that Taiwan won't be recognized on the WHO's donor list because the sponsorship was done through Rotary International. The WHO declined to accept Taiwan's donation in the name of Taiwan.
Despite the WHO's exclusion, officials say they support the organization's goal of fighting disease around the world.
"Following the WHO's goal, our next target is measles," Hsu said. "We will devote ourselves to its eradication and will show the world Taiwan's success in public health."
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS