The Ministry of Health and Welfare and Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) on Wednesday pledged to cooperate on emergency medical response and regional disaster rescue efforts.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) on disaster and emergency medical collaboration was signed by Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shi-chung (陳時中) and HUG’s Tropical and Humanitarian Medicine Department director Francois Chappuis in Geneva, Switzerland.
Through cooperation with the hospital and organizations worldwide, Taiwan could improve its disaster response capacity and help save lives around the world when disaster strikes, said Chen, who is in Geneva to attend meetings on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly (WHA).
“Health for all, Taiwan can help,” Chen said, quoting his team’s slogan and emphasizing that Taiwan should not be excluded from the international health network.
Chappuis said that disaster preparedness and emergency response requires multidimensional coordination and exchanges amid the challenges posed by climate change, armed conflicts and outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The world needs to establish a regional disaster response and rescue mechanism, and humanitarian rescue operations should not be politicized, Chappuis said, adding that disaster knows no borders.
The MOU would allow Taiwan to assemble and train emergency medical teams in accordance with WHO standards, provide support in the areas of disaster medicine and primary care, and enhance cooperation on disaster medicine research, the ministry said in a press release.
A Taiwanese delegation is in Geneva to participate in events on the sidelines of the WHA to highlight Taiwan’s willingness to contribute to global health, even though it was not invited to attend the annual WHA meeting that opened on Monday.
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