The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) for its plea on behalf of Taiwan's bid to participate in the WHO.
The ministry was informed by the Harvard Club of the ROC that 155 professors of the Harvard school had sent a letter on May 1 to WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland, to voice their support for Taiwan's bid .
The letter from the professors said, "We, health professionals associated with the Harvard School of Public Health, request your support in Taiwan's gaining observer status with the WHO."
Given that there are more than 200 HSPH graduates in Taiwan who are actively involved in globally significant health issues, the letter argued that "the exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO has severely restricted the opportunity for these well-trained health professionals to interact with the WHO on health matters important both for the WHO and to Taiwan."
"In light of Taiwan's recent accession to the World Trade Organization, the continuing exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO is anachronistic," the letter said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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