Taiwan should be included in world health matters, Estonia said in a statement on Tuesday at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.
In her address on the third day of the 76th WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking forum, Estonian Minister of Health Riina Sikkut said that her country believed nations should “facilitate inclusion and meaningful participation of all partners, including Taiwan, and this would benefit global health.”
Estonia was one of 10 countries to support Taiwan’s inclusion at the session, with the others being Lithuania, Luxembourg and Germany, which have no formal diplomatic relations with the nation, and diplomatic allies Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Photo: Reuters
Marshall Islands Minister of Health Joe Bejang made a personal plea to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“We should stop the politics, stop the neglect, for we are all human beings and we should be focusing on achieving the highest possible standard of health for all people,” Bejang said. “Let Taiwan help.”
The support came a day after the WHA rejected a proposal from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, including Belize, Nauru, the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Marshall Islands, to put the issue of Taiwan being granted observer status on the WHA’s agenda.
China objected to the proposal.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a separate Global Collaboration and Training Framework forum in Geneva to highlight the importance of Taiwan’s involvement in the WHO.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said that no country is safe from pandemics that are without historical precedent, and the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats initiative, touted by the WHO, was only implemented after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Loyce Pace, assistant secretary at the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Global Affairs, said that the world should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health monitoring and data systems, as well as innovation in pandemic prevention, are important to prepare before the next great pandemic, Pace said.
The US affirms the importance of bilateral, regional and other collaborations that the US conducted with Taiwan, including through the Global Collaboration and Training Framework, Pace said.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Geneva Director-General Nicole Su (蘇瑩君) said that the forum highlighted what Taiwan could bring to the table given its strengths in the medical sector to solve global problems and improve multilateral partnerships.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
RSS