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Taiwanese official argues for nation's entry to WHO

"Taiwan is still struggling to gain access to the global disease prevention and control network."

Jack Lee, deputy director of the information division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York

For the sake of global health and the Taiwanese people's safety, Taiwan should not be excluded from the World Health Organiz-ation (WHO), a Taiwanese official said on Friday.

Jack Lee, deputy director of the information division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, addressed the issue in an article published in the New York Sun newspaper.

Lee pointed out that while specialists from 192 WHO member states gathered on World Health Day in Zambia on April 7 to discuss ways to combat disease as a global community, Taiwan was unable to benefit from the meeting or the existing global health network because it is not a WHO member.

Moreover, Lee said, Taiwan has also been shut out of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and the International Health Regulations 2005 mechanism.

"Taiwan is still struggling to gain access to the global disease prevention and control network. But because of China's intervention, the likelihood of this happening still seems small," he said.

Lee said the exclusion of Taiwan based on political reasons obviously violates the principle of membership universality and the humanitarian spirit of the WHO, and that it is important for the WHO to follow this principle since "infectious diseases know no national boundaries."

For example, Lee said, if a flu virus originating in Thailand spreads to Taiwan -- a busy transportation and trade center -- it is likely that the virus will propagate rapidly around the world.

When a large-scale SARS outbreak occurred in China in 2003, Taiwan soon had SARS cases too, Lee recalled.

Taiwan's failure to obtain any immediate medical information or assistance from the WHO led to the death of 83 Taiwanese from the disease, with financial losses suffered by local industries totaling US$1.8 billion, Lee said.

Although Taiwan was willing to contribute, the international community has no access to Taiwan's experience in medical development and disease control and prevention because it was not a WHO member, he said.

On Beijing's claim that Taiwan's people have enjoyed the health resources provided by the WHO under the so-called "one China" policy, Lee clarified that the Chinese government has no jurisdiction over Taiwan and therefore it was impossible for Taiwan to benefit from China's WHO membership.
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