The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed yesterday it has invited a fifth Taiwanese medical expert to join its global SARS conference in Malaysia, although the Taiwanese government did not recommend the expert to the organization.
WHO spokesman Iain Simpson said that the organization invited PFP Legislator Kao Ming-chien (高明見) because of his involvement in fighting the epidemic.
Kao, who practiced medicine for about 40 years, was not directly involved in treating SARS patients or researching the disease.
The other four experts recommended by the Department of Health (DOH) -- two doctors, a researcher and Center for Disease Control (CDC) Director Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁) -- have been heavily involved in battling SARS.
The SARS conference will take place in Malaysia's Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel, close to the nation's capital, Kuala Lumpur, on June 17 and June 18.
In explaining why the WHO invited Kao -- who has relatively less experience with the disease than the other experts -- was invited to the conference, Simpson said: "There are more than 1,000 people invited. Not all of them are experts on SARS."
Those invited are "in some way or the other" involved in SARS, he said.
Kao's role in convening a cross-strait videoconference on SARS between China and Taiwan became hotly debated after China's delegation used the videoconference as a political tool to block Taiwan's application to enter the WHO.
On May 19, Taiwan's application to enter the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's highest decision-making body, as an observer was rejected.
One of Taiwan's main appeals to join the WHA was that the nation should not be left out of the WHO's anti-SARS network.
China, in an effort to show that it had taken care of Taiwan's health needs, told the WHA that medical experts across the strait had communicated on the SARS issue via Kao's videoconference.
The WHO's offer to Kao sparked speculation that China may have played a role in the invitation. Simpson refused to comment on whether the WHO invited Kao due to pressure from Beijing.
Anonymous government sources cited in the Chinese-language media said Kao, though not recommended by the DOH to join the SARS conference, asked the DOH and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to subsidize his travel and accommodation fees during the conference.
The DOH and the ministry were cautious in deciding whether to grant Kao a subsidy for his trip because he is not a delegate appointed by the government, the sources said.
Kao said he did not know he had been invited to the conference until the ministry told him of the WHO's gesture.
Meanwhile, the WHO said yesterday it was lifting its warning against travel to parts of China over SARS, but not for Beijing or Taiwan.
The agency said it was dropping its advice to travelers to avoid unnecessary trips to the provinces of Hebei and Shaanxi, the region of Inner Mongolia and the city of Tianjin.
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