Print

Mail

wiki links

China still hiding facts, WHO meeting told

Taiwan has accused the Chinese government of showing a lack of transparency in revealing the SARS situation in China, saying it hindered global efforts in fighting the disease, a Taiwanese scientist said yesterday.

"We expect China to have a more open and transparent system," said Center for Disease Control Director Su Ih-Jen (蘇益仁), who heads Taiwan's delegation to the World Health Organization (WHO) conference on SARS in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Su accused the Chinese government of endangering global efforts in eradicating the epidemic by covering up the actual SARS condition in that country.

"I don't think it's transparent now because they're moving their patients from Beijing to the rural areas, so this doesn't mean they have eradicated the problem," he said.

"Consider it a humble appeal from us -- only if reporting is transparent, can the problem be addressed, " Su said.

He said the matter would be brought up during the conference as it "affected all the countries."

Taiwanese scientist Ho Mei-Shang (何美鄉) earlier told a press conference she believed the SARS problem was under control in Taiwan, but added the high volume of people coming in from China placed the nation at a high risk, reiterating the call for transparency.

"If information is not open, it constitutes a threat to us -- not just Taiwan, but to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Western countries," she warned.

The Taiwanese delegation has hailed their invitation by the WHO to join the two-day international conference, which kicks off Tuesday, as a "big breakthrough" for the island's hopes to join the world health body and its claim to international recognition.

"This is a big breakthrough for us to join the WHO conference. This is the first time in the past 30 years that we've participated," said Su.

"Of course we need to take some further steps to finally become a WHO member, but I'm quite excited," he told reporters, adding he was confident the Taiwanese delegation would "contribute to the understanding and control of SARS."
This story has been viewed 2767 times.