A Taiwanese and an Italian association named after Italian epidemiologist Carlo Urbani yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vietnamese drugmaker Stella to support medical care programs in Vietnam in commemoration of Urbani, who first identified SARS.
Stella is to provide generic drugs for medical cooperation projects initiated by the associations in Vietnam over the next three years, Carlo Urbani Association Taiwan president Giovanni Juang (莊振澤) told a news conference.
The MOU was signed by representatives from the Carlo Urbani Association Taiwan, Carlo Urbani Association Italy and Stella Vietnam, and was witnessed by members of Urbani’s family and Donato Scioscioli, head of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office in Taipei.
Urbani, a WHO infectious disease specialist who was stationed in Hanoi, first alerted the world to a pneumonia-like emerging disease in February 2003 that was later identified as SARS.
His early warning might have saved millions of lives, but Urbani was infected with the virus while treating SARS patients and died in Bangkok on March 29, 2003, at the age of 46.
The SARS epidemic gripped Taiwan in the first half of 2003, but the outbreak was eventually contained.
According to WHO data for that year, there were 346 SARS cases and 37 deaths caused by the virus in Taiwan.
Urbani is highly respected by many Taiwanese for the contributions and sacrifice he made to control the SARS outbreak, Scioscioli said.
The MOU marks a concrete approach to commemorating Urbani for what he did, Scioscioli said, adding that the memorandum might have a positive influence in the medical care field.
Juang and the Taiwanese association’s honorary president Chi Cheng (紀政) also announced the winners of the annual Carlo Urbani Award.
The award went to Shi Ping-wei (石品薇), a graduate of National Taiwan University’s Department of Public Health, and Chu Yi-ching (曲怡靜), a graduate of National Chiayi University’s Department of Veterinary Medicine.
They would be given scholarships to study infectious diseases at tropical medicine research centers in Africa, Juang said.
An English-language biography of Urbani, titled Doctor Without Borders, was also unveiled at the news conference.
Chi said she was touched by Urbani’s autobiography because it showed his love for the world, adding that she hopes Juang’s dream of building a hospital in Vietnam to continue Urbani’s work could be fulfilled.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS