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Taiwan quick take

■Health
SARS count reduced
The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday marked down the number of pro-bable severe acute respira-tory syndrome (SARS) cases in the country to 28 after clearing one patient of the disease. DOH Deputy Secretary-General Lee Long-teng (李龍騰) said SARS tests on the 58-year-old man were negative but he had shown signs of infec- tion by other agents. The patient, who had been in China between Feb. 21 and March 21, was thought to be suffering from SARS as he had displayed the symptoms of a cough, fever and pneumonia, according to Lee. There have been no reported deaths from SARS in the country.

■ Health
Radio ad plugs WHO bid
The "One FM" radio station in Geneva has begun to broadcast Taiwan's appeal for admission to the World Health Organization (WHO) and to attend the World Health Assembly as an observer. The advertisement, in French, says that the WHO has a noble goal to improve the health of all mankind, but the 23 million people on Taiwan have been denied all benefits that the WHO can provide. The ad also says that Tai- wan needs more interna-tional sympathy and support for its bid to join the organization, noting that it has donated money to international health and medical foundations and provided medical aid to different parts of the world.

■ Health
Earth Day commemorated
The Environmental Protec-tion Administration spon-sored a series of activities in Kaohsiung County yesterday to mark Earth Day 2003, which falls on Tuesday. More than 1,000 volunteers gathered in Kaohsiung, swearing to preserve Taiwan's reputation as a beautiful island. Kao-hsiung Country Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) said Taiwan used to be a beautiful island, where many children swam and fished in creeks. Now that the rivers are polluted, he said, Taiwan is working actively to promote the reestablishment of a healthy and sustainable environ-ment. Yang expressed his gratitude to the volunteers for their help to local governments in cleaning up rubbish and removing 1,633 tonnes of trash, as well as successfully fighting the mosquito-borne dengue fever last year. EPA Administrator Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said his agency has spent NT$1.6 billion (US$46 million) to hire unemployed people to clean up tourist areas as part of the government's project to increase employment.

■ Charity
Houses for El Salvador
A Taipei branch of Zonta International announced yesterday that it will donate two houses to victims of the earthquake that hit El Salvador in 2001. A cere-mony was held yesterday in Taipei's Ambassador Hotel, during which El Salvadoran Ambassador Francisco Ricardo Santana expressed gratitude to the people of Taiwan for their help. Chiang Tzu-ning (蔣次寧), chairwoman of the Taipei arm of Zonta International -- a world organization of business and professional executives dedicated to advancing the status of women -- said her group decided to help after seeing that millions of Salvadorans were homeless due to many natural disasters. This is the first time that the Taipei branch has offered assistance abroad. The two houses will be located in the town of Chacarrera in the capital, San Salvador.

Agencies
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