Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said yesterday that the WHO had amended its Web site to include a separate tally for swine flu cases reported by Taiwan.
Yeh said the DOH had stopped reporting confirmed swine flu, or A(H1N1), cases to the WHO and China because the two had been tallying Taiwanese cases under China. As of Saturday, the WHO had separated Taiwanese and Chinese cases on its Web site by placing “Chinese Taipei” cases in an appendix.
“Previously when we reported our cases to China, they would put our cases under their own tally, and we don’t want that. Now that we know the WHO won’t do that anymore, we will begin to report our cases to the WHO again,” he said.
As of press time, the amended Web site included a footnote that read, “Chinese Taipei has reported 1 confirmed case of influenza A(H1N1) with 0 deaths. Cases from Chinese Taipei are included in the cumulative totals provided in the table above.”
Yeh said that in the best-case scenario, Taiwan would like to have its own row in the online WHO A(H1N1) tally spreadsheet, instead of being listed in an appendix.
“We are not satisfied with the situation, but it is acceptable,” he said.
He also urged people to stop saying that he was selling out Taiwan, adding: “My only concern is for the epidemic in Taiwan to be controlled.”
Meanwhile, the DOH yesterday said that containment would no longer be enough to protect the nation from swine flu, adding that the government should immediately plan mitigation efforts and invest in resources to meet the surge in demand for swine flu medication and vaccines.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Steven Kuo (郭旭崧) told a press conference yesterday that he was optimistic about controlling the spread of swine flu, saying: “This may be the first time humans can successfully prevent a global flu epidemic using vaccines.”
After a panel discussion by experts, Kuo said that as domestic cases will inevitably occur, how the swine flu epidemic will develop is unclear.
“We will work closely with the WHO and also keep a close eye on swine flu in the Southern hemisphere’s winter months of July, August and September,” Kuo said.
The development of the flu epidemic there is an important indicator for how prevention work can be done in the Northern hemisphere during its winter, he said.
Yeh said that meant Taiwan had time to wait for the A(H1N1) vaccine to be developed, as long as the nation prevents community spread of the illness until the end of next month.
In terms of domestic prevention work in the winter, Yeh said that the department had placed orders for NT$600 million (US$18.4 million) in flu medication Relenza, enough for about 600,000 doses, and 6 tonnes of shikimic acid, which can be made into about 1 million doses of Tamiflu.
Along with the 5 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine the nation plans to purchase, 10 million doses of swine flu vaccines would also be purchased, he said.
“Anyone who wants [the vaccine] should be able to get it,” Yeh said.
Of the 10 million swine flu vaccine doses, 2.5 million will be purchased from foreign pharmaceutical firms and 7.5 million will come from domestic manufacturers, Yeh said.
Besides purchasing medication for Taiwanese, the government would also donate US$5 million in A(H1N1) vaccines to needy countries via the WHO, Yeh said.
“Considering that the cost of each dose will not exceed NT$200, we will be donating at least 750,000 to 800,000 doses,” he said.
Yeh also called on domestic pharmaceutical firms to join the government in donating swine flu vaccines to these countries for humanitarian reasons.
Meanwhile, regarding President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) departure for Central and South America tomorrow, Yeh said that as Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador are entering their summer months, the A(H1N1) epidemic should pose no problem for the president.
“What we are concerned about are the two US cities, as Ma will meet overseas Taiwanese there,” Yeh said.
Ma will stop over at Los Angeles on his way over and Seattle on his way back.
Ma may not be shaking hands with the overseas Taiwanese, and those coming to the banquet may have their temperatures taken first, Yeh said, adding that these precautionary measures would be implemented in a sensitive manner.
Yeh said he would accompany Ma on the trip, but would still be in charge of domestic A(H1N1) epidemic control while he is away. Yeh said that he would engage in medical diplomacy during the trip, and that while he would shoulder responsibility for the nation’s A(H1N1) epidemic control, he would let his deputies demonstrate their abilities.
“I will be going unless an uncontrollable community spread occurs in the nation; [otherwise] the Centers for Disease Control is doing a good job and we should let them take care of the situation,” Yeh said.
Yeh said that if absolutely necessary, he could rush back to the nation within 24 hours should anything urgent arise.
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