The appearance of three cases in Taiwan of an acute form of pneumonia has implicitly exposed the country's isolation from the WHO.
When the three cases of what the WHO is calling "severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)" were reported last week, Twu Shiing-jer (
In the WHO's updated report about the SARS outbreak on Sunday, the organization called the disease "an atypical pneumonia of unknown etiology."
Taiwan's first two cases were reported to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) last Friday. The center reported the two cases to the WHO that day, it said.
The center also immediately reported the third case to the WHO after it was discovered on Saturday, it said.
The WHO issued an emergency travel warning regarding the disease on Sunday and an updated report on the outbreak yesterday.
However, when the WHO listed the countries from where it had received reports of SARS cases in its statements, Taiwan was conspicuously absent from the list.
Nevertheless, the center said it had done its best to keep the WHO up to date on the conditions of Taiwan's SARS cases.
Twu said that during his US visit he appealed for the WHO's help in investigating Taiwan's cases.
"The WHO is coordinating the international investigation of this outbreak and is working closely with health authorities in the affected countries to provide epidemiological, clinical and logistical support as required," the WHO's statement on Sunday said.
Although so far the organization has offered Taiwan no direct assistance, two officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) arrived at Taiwan on Sunday to join the investigation of the cause of the three cases.
On Sunday, Twu expressed disappointment that the WHO did not want to work with Taiwan.
But Chen Tsai-ching (陳再晉), director-general of Taiwan's CDC, said yesterday that the country needed to consider the WHO's dilemma in dealing with such diseases in a non-member state such as Taiwan.
"As long as the WHO has suggested the USCDC send officials to help us, we are very grateful," Chen said.
Hsieh Szu-min (謝思民), an infectious disease specialist from National Taiwan University Hospital, where the first two cases are in quarantine, said the WHO's help would be useful in determining how the two caught the disease.
"As SARS cases have been reported in many countries, transnational cooperation coordinated by the WHO would be more efficient to investigate the cause," Hsieh said.
But Hsieh said he expected a lot from the USCDC officials in examining the cases because "the center is very experienced in investigating unknown agents and viruses."
Hsieh said that over the past few decades, the center had accumulated considerable experience in studying outbreaks and their causes.
DPP lawmaker Lai Ching-te (
"As Taiwan is not a WHO member, it can't join other countries' investigation of SARS cases. It can't obtain first-hand information about the disease from the WHO, either," Lai said.
Taiwan cannot know how many SARS cases there are in other countries immediately, nor can it find out in which areas in the countries these cases were found, Lai said.
"We can't quickly know how these countries treat these cases. We don't know what health policies these countries adopt to contain the spread of the disease," Lai added.
Also See Stories:
Editorial: The Chinese virus invasion
Taiwanese steer clear of Hong Kong
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS