Health minister addresses WHA, seeks robust participation

2016/05/30

Health Minister Lin Tzou-yien called on the World Health Organization and its member states to support Taiwan in its efforts to participate robustly in WHO meetings and activities while addressing the 69th World Health Assembly May 25 in Geneva, Switzerland.

“We now have successfully transformed from an international aid recipient to an aid provider,” Lin said in his speech. “To help stop the global spread of infectious diseases, we have, over the past 12 months, organized several training workshops for participants from 14 of our regional neighbors to improve regional capability to respond to Ebola, MERS, dengue and Zika.”

Lin said Taiwan is a world leader in a number of medical fields including reconstructive microsurgery, craniofacial surgery and organ transplantation. In remarks directed toward WHA and the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, he said the nation is prepared “to provide training opportunities for 50 surgical trainers from around the world within the next five years.”

In addition to attending the plenary meeting, Taiwan’s delegates have participated in several technical briefings, sharing their experiences and offering suggestions on topics of global concern including childhood obesity, malnutrition and physical activity, as well as quarantine and disease prevention.

On the sidelines of WHA, Taiwan delegates have held bilateral talks with their counterparts from more than 45 countries and international organizations. Among the interactions was a meeting held between Lin and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

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

This year, however, the text of the WHA invitation to Chinese Taipei began by citing U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758, WHA Resolution 25.1 and the so called one China principle.

The U.N. resolution, passed in 1971, recognized mainland China as the only lawful representative of China to the U.N., and Republic of China (Taiwan) representatives withdrew from the international body. WHA Resolution 25.1 ended the ROC membership from WHO in 1972.

In addressing the one China proviso attached to Taiwan’s invitation to the 69th WHA, Lin submitted a letter of protest May 23 to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan via a WHO legal adviser.

According to the health minister, the letter stated that Taiwan’s participation in WHA is based on professionalism and pragmatism with the goal of improving global health and is not constrained by any political framework.

“Taiwan’s participation in WHA is based on universal values of human rights with an emphasis on contributing medical expertise and sharing experiences,” Lin said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=245084&ctNode=2194&mp=9)