Taipei Times: What do you think about Taiwan's chances of being granted observer status at the WHO this year ?
Twu Shiing-jer (
The SARS storm has also awakened many countries. They have to face a question now: which matters more -- health for the international community or politics? The recognition Taiwan has gained has been increasing.
PHOTO:CNA
TT: As all health officials have been committed to containing SARS, has the preparation to join the WHO been hampered?
Twu: We [the SARS-fighting teams] find it difficult to strike a balance between our work against SARS and preparation for the World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting [in Geneva starting on Monday]. We convened fewer meetings to discuss the WHO bid. With SARS raging, we are much busier and cannot concentrate on the WHA.
Nevertheless, the climate to join the WHA is much better than last year's. Owing to SARS, many foreign media have interviewed us.
Even President Chen Shui-bian (
TT: Has the reporting by theforeign media helped or hampered Taiwan's chances of entering the WHO?
Twu: I think their reporting has done more good than harm to our bid to join the WHO. Some reporting, like CNN's, focused on our SARS outbreak. It did not cover our appeal to join the WHO. They [foreign media] thought what the world was interested in was the development of SARS in Taiwan.
For example, people would like to know whether Taiwan is still a safe place to travel. Foreign governments wanted to know whether they should impose travel restrictions on Taiwan. Whether Taiwan joined the WHO or not was a minor concern to them. Foreign media covered very little on our appeal to join the WHO.
Besides, whether Taiwan has been doing well in containing SARS has no direct relationship with its chance to enter the WHO. People should ask why the WHO did not dispatch experts to Taiwan at an earlier stage. They should ask why the WHO experts came seven weeks after our first SARS was reported.
The WHO sent officials to Singapore to give warning against the emerging disease a week before the country's first SARS case was reported. The WHO would actively inform Singapore of a new disease. Why did it treat Taiwan and Singapore so differently? Because Singapore is a WHO member but Taiwan is not.
The WHO is unfair and unjust in barring Taiwan anyway. Some people might think that the SARS outbreak has tarnished Taiwan's reputation.
But a good reputation is not essential for joining the WHO. Perhaps some countries think Taiwan should join the WHO exactly because it did not do very well in containing the disease.
TT: American and Japanese high-ranking officials have publicly voiced support for Taiwan's bid to enter the WHA as an observer. Would their support boost our chances of becoming a member of the WHO?
Twu: It was the first time Japan publicly voiced support for us. The US has expressed support for our bid before. But its support came after the assembly. This time, both countries made their stance known before the WHA. It makes a great difference whether they express support before or after the assembly. Their support is encouraging.
TT: Will the US and Japan take supportive action for Taiwan at the WHA?
Twu: This is a diplomatic matter. The answer will not come until the last moment.
TT: How much help have the WHO experts actually contributed to the control of SARS?
Twu: Personally, I am very happy they have come to help us. Their arrival highlighted the WHO'S mistake of not coming to Taiwan earlier to help us. The WHO has no duty to help Taiwan because we are not one of its members.
On the other hand, as we are not one of its members, we have no duty to report our SARS cases to it, either.
But it would be very dangerous if we did not report our cases to the WHO. If we did not report to the WHO, wouldn't the world have cause for serious concern?
TT: Many countries suffered from China's cover-up of its SARS outbreak. In recent years, southern China seems to have become a breeding ground for diseases, such as the bird flu and SARS. Should the WHO make regulations to force countries to cooperate on disease control so as to prevent similar situations?
Twu: The question has been hotly debated. But the truth is, the WHO does not have any power over a sovereign country.
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