The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) yesterday told legislators that it might be difficult for Taiwan to be included in the World Health Assembly’s (WHA) drafting of a pandemic agreement.
MOHW and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials were asked to report on their efforts, review and prospects in striving for Taiwan’s participation in the annual WHA at a meeting of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
As Taiwan was not invited to participate as an observer for the eighth straight year, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) led a delegation of health officials and experts to the annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, last week to hold meetings on the sidelines and speak up for Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Chiu also filed a letter of complaint to the WHO for excluding Taiwan from the WHA.
As former health minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) had pledged to strive for Taiwan’s inclusion in the pandemic agreement, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) asked whether Taiwan had made any progress and whether it might be able to participate as an observer.
Chiu said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, not only the WHO, but also countries in the EU and the Asia-Pacific region have proposed developing similar agreements to better prevent and respond to the threat of future pandemics, as they have become more aware of the importance of “zone defense.”
However, there is still controversy over the draft agreement, so members countries failed to finalize an agreement at this year’s WHA and extended the negotiations for another year, he said, adding that Taiwan would continue to strive for inclusion.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who also joined the ministry’s delegation to Geneva last week, said that Taiwanese health experts met with US academics who are familiar with the pandemic agreement in Geneva, and as the negotiations have been extended for a year, Taiwan will continue to try different approaches to join the agreement, including the possibility of signing as a non-member observer.
However, although the contents of the draft agreement might change in the following year, the current draft specifies that only WHO members would be able to sign it, making it difficult for Taiwan to be included, he said.
Whether or not Taiwan is included, the government will continue to strengthen its disease prevention preparedness, such as maintaining steady supply of disease prevention supplies, vaccines and medicines, Lo said.
Hopefully, countries would share virus sequences and relevant information faster, as well as share the vaccines and drugs developed from the shared information, after the pandemic agreement is signed, he said.
Taiwan will also strive to comply with the rights and obligations of the agreement, he added.
When asked by reporters about reports that hospitals have reduced the number of beds due to a nursing shortage, Chiu said the ministry would look into the matter to gain a better understanding of the situation at every level of healthcare facilities across the nation.
Asked about public concerns over fair pricing of regenerative medicine products, after two laws regulating regenerative medicine passed their third reading in the legislature on Tuesday, the minister said that people’s “right to life” and “right to health” are of utmost importance, so the government would insist on information and pricing transparency.
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