To defend the country against germ warfare, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is stepping up preventive measures and developing emergency response strategies, CDC officials said yesterday.
"The anti-terrorism commission of the Executive Yuan is coordinating intelligence, financial, economic and judicial mechanisms to fend off any attack of biological agents," Chiu Chan-hsien (邱展賢), director of the CDC's Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases said at the Asian Pacific Intercity Symposium on Anti-Bioterrorism, which was convened jointly by the CDC and the Taipei City Government's Department of Health.
According to Chiu, the draft anti-terrorism law has passed the first review in the Legislative Yuan and is high on the list for a second review next year. The law, once ratified, will authorize an anti-terrorism team and reinforce the legal basis for a full-scale mobilization in the event of an attack.
Chiu also said that the CDC has proposed a four-year budget to finance staff training and the purchase of vaccines, antibiotics and medical facilities. The amount for the first year budget totals about NT$1.4 billion, Chiu said.
Apart from the draft anti-terrorism law and budget plan, the CDC has organized the National Biological Pathogens Disaster Response System as the backbone of the nation's biosecurity.
Despite doubts on whether the nation will be threatened by bioterror, officials contended that they cannot afford to be complacent.
"Taiwan has yet to experience acts of biological terrorism," said Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in his opening speech. "However, we cannot use this as an excuse to avoid preparation and study in bioterrorism prevention."
"We were greatly shocked by the senseless attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, in which so many innocent lives were lost," Ma said. "Terrorists usually aim to harm soft targets that are unable to fight back, such as civilian infrastructure and local governments, institutions and businesses."
The city government worries that widespread dissemination of chemical and biological information has made it easier for determined individuals to develop biological weapons in underground laboratories. Such weapons could be used covertly, and would cause mass casualties in a densely populated city like Taipei.
"There are over 2.6 million residents in Taipei City, and if you include individuals who live in suburbs and commute to Taipei for work, over a million people are in the city on any given day," Chang Hang (張珩), the Commissioner of Taipei City Government's Department of Health, said.
"In an era of convenient mass transit systems, where we come into frequent contact with so many others, it is difficult to prevent and protect against biological strikes," Chang said. Foreign experts with experience fighting anthrax, smallpox, and other biological agents encouraged the country to strengthen its defense against biological attacks, although Taipei is not likely a terrorist target.
"Rather than spending time trying to predict the unpredictable, we suggest that the government prepare for the worst," said A. Thomas Waytes, vice president of medical and scientific affairs of BioPort, under the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Choo Wee Jin, chairman of geriatric medicine at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore, said a terrorist attack on his country is inevitable. "Our government's assumption is that an attack will occur sooner or later, given the unstable international situation and our close ties with the US."
Drawing on expertise from the US and Singapore, the CDC said that they have narrowed down possible biological agents to four kinds: smallpox, anthrax, plague, and botulism. According to Chiu, the CDC has stockpiled vaccines for smallpox and antibiotics for anthrax. Chiu also confirmed that in drills, local health bureaus proved capable of coordinating and reporting all available medical resources to the CDC within two hours.
The hospital network can also respond more promptly now to emergencies, said Chu Dachen (璩大成), superintendent of Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital, which was the hospital hardest hit by SARS last year. With the hindsight provided by experience during the SARS crisis -- which strained the country's health system to the limit, hospitals are now more alert to cases of infectious diseases, and know more about quarantine and disinfection procedures.
"SARS is the strongest vaccine for hospital coordination," Chu said. "Now any suspicious case, once clinically identified, will be sanitized and quarantined within half an hour."
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