The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is to send two staffers to attend a meeting of the WHO’s Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Manila later this month, as the agency seeks to join the fight against the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak.
“We will send two people from our agency,” CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said, adding that the delegates are to be appraised the most up-to-date information on approaches to controlling not only the spread of Ebola, but also other diseases.
Although Chou did not specify whether the two agency officials are technical or ministerial-level officials, he said they would seek to be active in discussions at the meeting.
However, it is more likely that the officials would only be able to sit in on the meeting, as Taiwan has not acquired observer status in the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, headquartered in the Philippines.
Without observer status in the organization, the nation can only send technical officials to attend meetings.
A committee spokesperson confirmed that Taipei will send representatives to sit in on the conference, to be held from today through to Friday in the Philippine capital.
Besides Ebola control measures, the meeting is expected to cover several other public health issues — from mental health and food safety to the prevention of dengue fever, malaria and tuberculosis.
The nation has been on high alert as the worst Ebola outbreak in history appears to be spiraling out of control.
On Friday, a Nigerian traveler was confirmed to not be infected with the deadly virus after showing suspicious symptoms upon arriving in Taiwan. Although the patient was cleared, the incident raised fears of a potential outbreak in the nation.
According to the WHO committee, as of Oct. 5, 8,033 cases of Ebola had been reported with 3,879 fatalities.
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