Taiwan would show the world it can contribute to global health and excluding the nation from the WHO is a loss for the organization and the world, the deputy ministers of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
The Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan, which has been part of a campaign for Taiwan to rejoin the WHO since 1997, invited Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Chien-te (呂建德) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) to a news conference in Taipei.
Alliance executive director Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said as Taiwan continues to increase its national strength, the annual campaign for lobbying international support for Taiwan during the World Health Assembly (WHA) no longer needs to “appeal to sympathy.”
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Alliance members would fly to Geneva, Switzerland, for a lobbying campaign on the sidelines of the assembly from Monday to Saturday next week, as Taiwan has not been invited to attend for the 10th consecutive year due to pressure from China.
Taiwan has overcome some major public health crises, including SARS, an influenza H1N1 outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, and accumulated rich experience, including establishing a high-coverage National Health Insurance (NHI) system and effective infectious disease prevention, which can be shared with the world, Lin said.
The nation has transformed from a victim into a crucial partner, capable of providing global public health experience and resources, she said.
The government’s WHA Action Team has three important missions: First, Taiwan no longer aims to appeal for sympathy, but instead demonstrate to the WHO that Taiwan is indispensable, Lu said.
The second is demonstrating Taiwan’s healthcare accomplishments, including achieving the WHO’s hepatitis C elimination goal ahead of schedule, and 99.98 percent NHI coverage — one of the best in the world, he said.
Even so-called communist China cannot achieve such high coverage, and its healthcare quality is getting worse, he said.
“I earnestly invite Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit Taiwan and learn from our NHI system,” Lu said, adding that if former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) could come out of his grave, he would tell Xi to reflect on his policies — such as spending so much on military expansion, but not taking care of China’s own people.
The third goal is to promote Taiwan’s precision medicine and smart healthcare, including artificial intelligence application, he said, adding that 31 groups from the nation’s hospitals and healthcare industry would showcase its medical capacity and the spirit of “Taiwan can help” at an expo in Geneva.
“A WHO without Taiwan is incomplete. The WHO and the world need us,” he said.
Although Taiwan was again not invited, the ministries adopted a more proactive and creative method for this year’s campaign by holding the Taiwan Smart Medical and HealthTech Expo near the WHA venue, Chen said.
“Only by including Taiwan can the WHO fulfill its spirit of leaving no one behind,” he said, adding that the nation is a reliable partner that can make contributions to the world.
Taiwan also thanks all the like-minded countries and friends for speaking up for justice and supporting the nation, he added.
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