Taiwan's most recent bid to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) received support from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco, Northern California Chapter of the North American Taiwanese Medical Association and several Taiwanese émigré groups at a press conference in San Francisco on World Health Day April 7. This year's bid is the nation's 10th attempt to apply for observer status at the WHA, which is the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Chang Hsin-hsing, the chairman of the Taiwanese medical association, said at the press conference that his organisation sends delegations to the WHO headquarters each year to voice their support for Taiwan's bids. Chang added that he expects more than 100 health professionals from North America to join him in Geneva during this year's WHA annual meeting to protest China's obstruction and the unfair treatment accorded Taiwan.

"Health has no boundaries," Chang said, adding that Taiwan should not be excluded from the WHO. Thanks to years of efforts by many overseas and local organisations, the United States and Japan have openly expressed their support for Taiwan's WHO bid, while the European Union has become more sympathetic toward Taiwan, according to Chang.

Citing the example of Taiwan IHA, a task force launched last week to integrate governmental and private resources for humanitarian aid, the head of TECO in San Francisco Liao Wei-ping said that Taiwan has been playing the part of a responsible member in this global village by sending medical missions all over the world and offering aids to disaster-stricken regions despite the unfair treatment it has been subjected to. He said he hopes the international society can recognise Taiwan's contributions to global public health by supporting Taiwan's entry to the WHA.

This year's WHA annual meeting is slated to be held May 22-27 in Geneva. The focus of Taiwan's bid this year is on the nation's "meaningful participation" in the organisation, a strategy which is reported to have garnered support from the United States, Japan and countries in the European Union.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau defined "meaningful participation" April 6 as Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, a mechanism for the rapid identification, confirmation and response to outbreaks of international importance and to attend all professional and technical seminars.

Taiwan is also still striving for the universal application of the International Health Regulations, which aim to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease and avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.
Apart from health practitioners in North America, a group of Taiwanese medical professionals in Europe also called on the E.U. April 6 to support Taiwan's bid to participate as an observer in the WHA.

During a news conference held in Brussels, Belgium, leading members of the European Federation of Taiwan Health Alliance, including Chang Lian-tze, Lee Hung-yao and Yeh Hsueh-yuan, asserted that it is unfair for the WHO to exclude Taiwan and sought support from the European public by outlining the importance of Taiwanese inclusion in the organisation.

Chang, who currently practices medicine in Germany, said Taiwan is being blocked from entering the WHO for political reasons and that the organisation should not allow health issues to be overridden by politics.

Lee said Taiwan's exclusion violates the WHO's principle of universality, while threatening the health of the people of Taiwan and the rest of the world.

Taiwan cannot obtain information with regard to the prevention and control of infectious diseases because it is not a WHO member, Lee pointed out, adding that even if some countries intend to cooperate with Taiwan, they still face pressure from China.

Even during the SARS outbreak in 2003 when more than 300 Taiwanese were infected and 90 died of the disease, Taiwan was not offered immediate assistance from the WHO, Lee claimed.

To illustrate the unfair treatment received by Taiwan, Yeh pointed out that, while Taiwan has so far remained free of H5N1 bird flu cases, the country was classified as an H5N1-affected area in maps published online by the WHO last month because the WHO considers Taiwan part of China, where H5N1 cases have been reported. The WHO has since corrected its Web site maps to reflect Taiwan's H5N1-free status.

Although the European Parliament passed a resolution in 2003 urging E.U. nations to support Taiwan's WHO bid, Yeh said the resolution has continued to be ignored by the European Union.

Former president of the World Medical Association Delon Human, who was also present at the press conference, expressed his support for Taiwan's participation in the WHO and said that he believes the 23 million Taiwanese deserve to be included in the world health network.

Meanwhile, a visiting Taiwanese delegation explained the nation's plight to Japanese reporters April 6 and sought Japan's support at the press conference for Taipei's bid to join the WHO as an observer.

Wu Nan-her, a senior executive of a doctors association in Taiwan, said that it is ridiculous that China still claims that it is "taking care" of the 23 million people in Taiwan. "I think that to play a role in such issues of health management based on a political decision is something that is very regrettable," Wu said.

He explained that leaving Taiwan out of the WHO creates a gaping hole in the organisation's global network of disease prevention. "What should we do if the avian influenza is to break out in Taiwan?" he asked. "We hope that the government of Japan and the people of Japan will continue to support Taiwan on this issue," he said.

Wu Shuh-min, a government adviser and chairman of another Taiwanese medical association, said that Taiwan is actively seeking opportunities to participate in conferences on the prevention of avian influenza. "Unfortunately, Taiwan has only been able to attend less than 40 percent of the conferences held on this topic due to China's obstruction," Wu pointed out.

In order to effectively curb the spread of epidemics such as SARS and bird flu, it is very important to include Taiwan in the global disease prevention network, Wu stressed.

He went on to explain that saving lives has nothing to do with politics, and that excluding Taiwan not only jeopardises the health of the Taiwanese people but also threatens the health of people around the world.

Wu said the delegation also met with Japanese lawmakers to plead their case, and that the politicians seemed very receptive to the group's overtures. Prior to his visit to Japan, Wu led a delegation to South Korea to appeal for support. He said he would also like to visit Europe to make Taiwan's case there.

At WHA's annual meeting in May 2004, Japan and the United States voted in favor of Taiwan's observer status for the first time, but Taiwan's bid ultimately failed. Last year only the United States, Japan and 23 ROC allies supported Taiwan's bid for observer status at the health body.
"We have said that Japan thinks it is desirable for Taiwan to participate in some form as an observer in a way that satisfies related parties," a Japanese government official was reported as saying last week.