Taiwan contributes to global health security at WHA

2016/05/25

Taiwan participates in the World Health Assembly based on the principles of professionalism and pragmatism and with the goal of contributing to the global health system, said Health Minister Lin Tzou-yien, who is currently heading a delegation to the 69th WHA in Geneva, Switzerland May 23-28.

Taiwan has been invited to attend the annual meeting of WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, as an observer under the name Chinese Taipei every year since 2009.

Delegation members are invited to offer their views on health promotion, health care systems, and the prevention, monitoring and control of contagious diseases. On the sidelines of WHA, Taiwan delegates have held bilateral talks with their counterparts from more than 20 countries and international organizations to exchange views, explore cooperation opportunities and solicit support for Taiwan’s participation in future WHO conferences.

“Taiwan’s participation in WHA helps to ensure global health security and is vital in the fight against the spread of infectious diseases,” Lin said in a commentary published May 23 by The Diplomat, an online international news magazine.

The health minister, who is also a respected physician, said Taiwan had 43,000 confirmed cases of dengue fever last year, one of the most severe outbreaks since 1987. In addition, the nation faces an increased risk of a Zika virus outbreak, as the disease is transmitted by the same mosquito species that spreads dengue fever.

“Because we know infectious diseases do not respect boundaries, Taiwan has fulfilled its International Health Regulations responsibilities since 2009 when we were officially included in the implementation framework,” Lin said. “We have established an IHR Contact Point with WHO to enable regional and global responses to public health threats.”

By adopting IHR and other health security frameworks, Taiwan strives to promote human medicine and veterinary collaborations and construct a unified system for infectious disease control, he said.

In response to Ebola in West Africa in 2014, Taiwan donated US$1 million to international aid efforts and provided 100,000 sets of personal protective equipment for use by medical workers. Over the past two years, Taiwan has also organized training workshops for Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asian health professionals to improve the regional capacity to detect and respond to dengue fever, Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome and Zika virus.

“Taiwan will continue to pursue bilateral, multilateral and research cooperation. We can be relied on to assist our Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asian neighbors as they enhance their own response capacities,” Lin said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=245000&ctNode=2194&mp=9)