Taiwan reiterated its regret that the World Health Organization (WHO) misunderstood the country's handling of the SARS epidemic, urging it to remove Taiwan from its travel warning advisory list sooner rather than later.
"We have done better a job than some other countries. However, we have been asked to meet a much stricter standard," Department of Health (DOH) Director-General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said at a news conference yesterday.
"We are not weak. Taiwan has been `quarantined' from the WHO for 20 years and [our health-care system] has grown to become a model," he said.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen said Taiwan has furnished the WHO with more information about the country's SARS situation in the hope that the world health watchdog lift its warning against non-essential travel to the country.
The WHO rejected Taiwan's previous application for removal from its travel advisory list. It asked the country to check whether the six suspected SARS cases reported in the US, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Germany and Brazil between March and early June were acquired in Taiwan.
"We have toiled to collect sufficient data to prove that Taiwan has not exported any SARS cases," Chen said, adding that all six probable cases the WHO was investigating as coming from Taiwan tested negative for SARS.
Chen said Taiwan will not be daunted by the setback and will even redouble efforts to meet the WHO's relatively stringent requirements for removal from its travel advisory list, even though the nation has been kept from participation in the world health body.
Moreover, Chen said, Taiwan must remain on the alert against the possibility of SARS-positive individuals entering the country and starting a new line of transmission.
Saying that an 82-year-old veteran showed SARS-like symptoms after returning from a visit to the central Chinese province of Hunan earlier this week, Chen stressed that it is important to keep certain quarantine measures for incoming passengers.
He used the example to imply that the WHO may wish to consider looking into whether the disease has spread to other regions of China.
Meanwhile, Chen also said that Taiwan's four representatives, who have been invited by the WHO to attend an international seminar on SARS, will participate in the activity as representatives of a state.
"Su Yi-jen (蘇益仁), director-general of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) under the DOH was addressed with his formal, official title in the WHO invitation to the seminar to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from June 17 to 18," Chen said.
Chen said the WHO has also invited three Taiwan scholars -- Chen Pei-che (陳培哲), director of the Hepatitis Research Center of National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), Chang Shang-chun (張上淳), director of the Infectious Disease Department at NTUH, and Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an associate research fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of Academia Sinica -- to attend the seminar.
According to DOH officials, the WHO will make special arrangements to let Su and other Taiwan participants discuss SARS issues with delegates from other countries.
The Taiwan delegates will leave for Kuala Lumpur on Sunday and are scheduled to return next Thursday.
As to the latest development of the government's efforts to control the spread of SARS, another medical professional yesterday succumbed to the illness.
Tsai Chiao-miao (
Later she was transferred to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou (
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over