The European Parliament on Saturday last week passed two resolutions that support Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHO.
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves le Drian also expressed support for Taiwan’s participation in World Health Assembly (WHA) and other international organizations during a parliamentary interpellation session on Wednesday last week.
This is the fourth time this year that Le Drian has voiced support for Taiwan’s international participation.
Due to Taiwan’s remarkable achievements in curbing the spread of COVID-19, many like-minded countries expressed support for Taiwan during the resumption of the annual WHA session last month.
Ministers of health from across the globe have underlined the importance of solidarity of all countries, but Taiwan is still excluded from the WHA.
Unlike WHO members, Taiwan is unable to acquire real-time COVID-19-related information, reports and technical assistance and unable to attend key meetings on vaccinations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light loopholes in the health security network we have dedicated so much effort to establish, and the pandemic has also revealed that our close-knit society has faced an unparalleled health threat and damage during this global crisis.
To fight COVID-19 and establish a better global health system, solidarity is needed from each country so that no one would be left behind and everyone’s well-being is protected.
The Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan was in 1992 founded by a group of doctors who cared about Taiwan’s democracy and people’s health. With the support of many experts and civil society, the foundation has been leading the “Taiwan join the WHO” campaign.
We have visited more than 1,000 lawmakers and officials from different countries, and more than 500 foreign researchers and international organizations.
Since 1997, members of the foundation have gone each year to Geneva, Switzerland, where the WHA is held, to promote our cause and host Taiwan Night events to address our appeal, saying: “Taiwan should not be excluded from global health.”
To impress upon the global community that Taiwan must be included in the WHO to improve people’s health and welfare — which is in the spirit of the WHO constitution, which stipulates as a goal “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right of every human being” — the foundation has also visited foreign representative offices in Taiwan.
The foundation on Oct. 18 submitted an application to this year’s Human Rights Prize of the French Republic, which was in 1988 established to acknowledge the remarkable work of an individual or collective concerning human rights protection and promotion.
This year, the prize is to be awarded to those whose work is associated with protecting health rights, fighting social isolation, and sustaining an ecological environment and biodiversity.
Liberty, equality and fraternity are the core principles of the prize, and the principles the foundation has upheld for the past 25 years.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on people’s health and welfare, and the progress of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The global community should take this opportunity to let go of their political differences.
We hope that through participating in the selection process of the prize, more people realize our efforts in promoting human rights and public welfare, and improving cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as on the global scale.
Lin Shih-chia is the executive director of the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan.
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