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WHO appeals continue

An Italian human rights movement leader recently wrote to Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), director-general of the WHO, to express his support for Taiwan's bid to participate in the organization.

Antonio Stango, secretary-general of the Italian Helsinki Committee, stated in a letter dated April 27 that the universal right to health care is certainly in the spirit of the Helsinki Final Act, which firmly states the link between human rights and security.

He also expressed his concern for the fact that Taiwan's 23 million people are still excluded from the WHO system.

"As experience has shown, particularly in the outbreak of SARS, being excluded from the WHO prevents the people of Taiwan from directly receiving technical data and medical aid through WHO formal channels," he wrote.

Stango went on to point out that Taiwan's exclusion creates a dangerous hole in the global disease prevention network.

"Diseases are not restrained by borders, especially in an increasingly globalized world," he said.

"Taiwan has proved to be more than willing to do its share to support peoples stricken by disasters and epidemics, when it has not been obstructed from doing so for merely political reasons," the Italian human rights activist affirmed.

Participation in the WHO would not only help ensure the health and welfare of the people of Taiwan but would also allow Taiwan to further contribute its medical expertise and resources to other people worldwide, he concluded.

Meanwhile, in Taipei, the Association of Taiwanese Journalists yesterday protested against the WHO's decision to refuse accreditation to Taiwanese journalists covering the WHA.

"We expressed our regret over the WHO denying Taiwanese journalists media accreditation. The UN abused press freedom and has sacrificed Taiwanese journalists' rights because of political pressure," association secretary-general Liu Kuei-lan (劉桂蘭) said in a written statement.

The association also said it would launch a campaign to write letters to the WHO and the UN protesting their discrimination against Taiwan.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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