Public health experts on Wednesday joined their counterparts in the Czech Republic in a virtual conference to discuss COVID-19 measures, the latest example of deepening cooperation between the two nations.
Separated into five segments, the Webinar featured four discussions led by a Taiwanese and a Czech speaker, and concluded with a panel discussion moderated by former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).
National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) president Liang Kung-yee (梁賡義) and Czech Senator Jiri Drahos led the opening remarks, during which they touched on pandemic policy, vaccine development and clinical treatment, among other topics.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Drahos, a former president of the Czech Academy of Sciences, praised Taiwan’s success at containing the pandemic, saying that there is a lot to learn from Taiwan with regards to policy and medicine, a news release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
He also thanked the government and the public for donating masks, respirators and other equipment to help the Czech Republic fight the pandemic, the ministry said.
Opening remarks were followed by discussions on epidemiology, vaccine development and lab diagnosis, and medical therapy, with the talks led by Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), University of Ostrava dean Rastislav Mad’ar, NHRI Vaccine Research and Development Center chief executive officer Liu Shih-jen (劉士任), Masaryk University professor Omar Sery, National Taiwan University Hospital vice director of internal medicine Wang Jen-tay (王振泰) and University Hospital Ostrava Anesthesiology Clinic head Pavel Sevcik.
Panelists agreed that observations from the Czech Republic as Europe continues to battle COVID-19 can aid Taiwanese prevention efforts, as collaboration in the field further demonstrates the solidarity and friendship between the two nations, the ministry said.
Chen shared some of the lessons Taiwan learned from staving off SARS, while emphasizing that international cooperation is the key to successfully containing a pandemic, it said.
On April 1 last year, Taiwan and the Czech Republic issued a joint statement listing eight areas of cooperation on COVID-19, including research, provision of supplies and information sharing.
The statement was followed by a historic visit in August and September last year by a delegation led by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil.
Drahos had planned to visit Taiwan in October last year, but postponed his trip due to challenges presented by the pandemic.
Asked about a potential visit by Drahos, the ministry said that the government welcomes any Czech officials who want to visit Taiwan, but it has no further information to provide at the moment.
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