While the nation's health-care system continues to battle the SARS epidemic, medical professionals have begun preparing for Taiwan's bid to enter the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.
The WHA is scheduled to begin on May 19 in Geneva. Ahead of that, the World Medical Association (WMA), an international organization representing physicians, will hold its council meeting in Divonne-les-Bains, France, from Thursday to Monday.
Wu Yung-tung (吳運東), president of the Taiwan Medical Association (TMA), a branch of the WMA, who will be attending the WMA's council meeting, said Taiwan stood a better chance of winning WHA observership this year than last.
"Many countries showed compassion and understanding toward Taiwan's SARS outbreak," said Wu, also one of Taiwan's ambassadors-at-large.
According to Wu, the WMA passed a resolution to support Taiwan's bid to enter the WHO last year and its council meeting is considered a warm-up for the WHA. Many of the WMA participants will also be attending the WHA, Wu said.
The US Congress and Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Chikara Sakaguchi have both expressed support for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO).
Wu said it would be a progress if European countries, some of which last time opposed Taiwan's bid, kept quiet this time.
Meanwhile, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appointed former director-general of the Department of Health Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) as an ambassador-at-large yesterday.
Lee, now commander of the department's anti-SARS task force, attended last year's WHA.
"We don't know whether he will be joining this year's WHA or not," said Chi Hsueh-yun (紀雪雲), a department spokeswoman.
According to Chi, Lee has kept good relationships with the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO.
Even though he retired from the DOH last year, Lee has maintained his commitment to promoting the country's bid to join the WHO, Chi said.
The help of Dr. Steve Martin and Dr. Cathy Roth, two WHO experts who have traveled to Taiwan, has made considerable difference in the country's battle to contain the SARS outbreak, Wu said.
While Taiwan's medical professionals are not inferior to the WHO experts, Wu said, the WHO is more experienced in coping with an emerging disease like SARS.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
RSS