The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is to send two staffers to attend a meeting of the WHO’s Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Manila later this month, as the agency seeks to join the fight against the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak.
“We will send two people from our agency,” CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said, adding that the delegates are to be appraised the most up-to-date information on approaches to controlling not only the spread of Ebola, but also other diseases.
Although Chou did not specify whether the two agency officials are technical or ministerial-level officials, he said they would seek to be active in discussions at the meeting.
However, it is more likely that the officials would only be able to sit in on the meeting, as Taiwan has not acquired observer status in the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, headquartered in the Philippines.
Without observer status in the organization, the nation can only send technical officials to attend meetings.
A committee spokesperson confirmed that Taipei will send representatives to sit in on the conference, to be held from today through to Friday in the Philippine capital.
Besides Ebola control measures, the meeting is expected to cover several other public health issues — from mental health and food safety to the prevention of dengue fever, malaria and tuberculosis.
The nation has been on high alert as the worst Ebola outbreak in history appears to be spiraling out of control.
On Friday, a Nigerian traveler was confirmed to not be infected with the deadly virus after showing suspicious symptoms upon arriving in Taiwan. Although the patient was cleared, the incident raised fears of a potential outbreak in the nation.
According to the WHO committee, as of Oct. 5, 8,033 cases of Ebola had been reported with 3,879 fatalities.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about