Department of Health Director-General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and Center for Disease Control Director-General Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁) left for Bangkok yesterday to attend a meeting of APEC health ministers and senior officials today and tomorrow.
They are representing Taiwan at the two-day meeting.
It is the first time that APEC has convened a health-ministers meeting, presumably as a result of the recent outbreaks of SARS.
Chen said prior to departure that he and Su have been keeping close contact with authorities from the World Health Organization (WHO) over the past few days regarding Taiwan's removal from the WHO's list of SARS-affected areas.
Noting that Taiwan has adopted a proactive campaign of quarantine, under which suspected SARS patients were put into home quarantine even before they were diagnosed as confirmed SARS cases, Chen said Taiwan should be removed from the SARS-affected areas list in accordance with the WHO's criteria.
Nevertheless, he reminded people to remain vigilant regarding hygiene to prevent any recurrence of outbreaks of SARS.
Chen said that health ministers from at least 13 economic entities will meet for discussions on setting up a regional SARS prevention and relief network, which will work to minimize the negative impact that SARS has brought about on economies and strengthen regional defenses against the disease.
Citing estimates by the Asian Development Bank, Chen said SARS might drag down Taiwan's economic growth rate by 0.92 percentage points this year.
Chen said that he will take the opportunity to invite other health ministers to attend an international forum on SARS to be sponsored by Taiwan in October.
Su will take part in a senior officials' meeting today. He is expected to report on Taiwan's methodologies in dealing with SARS and will discuss with his counterparts ways to form an international Internet platform for epidemiology information.
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