The government will dispatch three more medical missions to help eradicate diseases and raise public health standards in three Pacific island countries, officials from the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) said yesterday.
Three medical missions, from Kaohsiung Medical University's Chung Ho Memorial Hospital, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital and Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, are scheduled to depart today for the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Nauru to provide free medical services to residents in those countries, ICDF officials said.
The three groups are expected to spend 20 days in the three South Pacific countries through Oct. 8, said officials from ICDF -- a spinoff organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
While in the Solomon Islands, doctors from Chung Ho Memorial Hospital are expected to give medical attention to locals, in addition to implementing a public health project in several communities, ICDF officials said.
Meanwhile, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital and Show Chwan Memorial Hospital are expected to create sister ties with their counterparts in Tuvalu and Nauru to cement bilateral exchanges and help the two island nations nurture their own medical professionals and allow them to pull their own weight medically, they added.
Over the past three months, ICDF has helped arrange for five Taiwanese medical groups to travel to the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Palau and Papua New Guinea.
The groups have provided free medical services to locals under a medical aid project initiated by the foreign ministry in June.
Marshall Islands President Kessai Note expressed his appreciation to President Chen Shui-bian (
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