Taiwan yesterday vowed to continue fighting for observer status at the World Health Organization (WHO) after losing its bid for the sixth year in a row.
"Our determination to become a WHO observer remains unchanged," said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release. "We will continue plugging away and keep up the struggle for international support until we achieve our rightful place within the WHO."
The statement came one day after the WHO executive board on Monday killed a motion to put Taiwan's observer status on the provisional agenda for the 55th World Health Assembly (WHA), to be held in May in Geneva.
Twenty members voted in favor of not discussing the issue, three voted against, eight abstained and one was absent from the meeting, said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl on Monday.
The voting took place in the wake of Cuba's suggestion during Monday's meeting that the motion on Taiwan's participation be removed from a provisional agenda of the 55th WHA meeting in May.
Guatemala, Chad and Grenada -- three of Taiwan's 28 diplomatic allies and members of the 32-member WHO Executive Board -- submitted the motion on behalf of Taiwan during the meeting.
This is the first time Taiwan's allies have raised the issue at the last WHO executive board meeting before the WHA in May. For the past five years, they submitted extraordinary motions shortly before the WHA opened.
Katharine Chang (張小月), spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Taiwan would "exhaust all means" at its disposal for its WHO bid, adding that similar campaigns before the WHA opens this May would continue.
"The two opportunities this year, including the executive board discussion as well as the period before WHA opens, are designed to attract attention to the issue of Taiwan's participation in the WHO," Chang told the Taipei Times.
"We are saddened and dissapointed about the WHO executive board's decision and we'd like to voice our strong dissatisfaction with the outrageous moves taken by China and its allies, including Cuba," Chang said.
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Now that Taiwan has formally become a member of the WTO, the government under President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has vowed to put the country's WHO bid high on the agenda, with a cross-ministerial task force for handling the issue.
Taiwan lost its WHO membership in 1972.
In 1997, Taiwan began a campaign to win observer status in the WHO. To become an observer, Taiwan needs the support from at least half of its 191 members.
The WHO has given observer status to the Vatican, Liechtenstein, the Palestinian Authority and the International Red Cross.
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