Virus Outbreak: US lawmakers call for WHO to include Taiwan

Staff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTON





Several US lawmakers with backgrounds in medicine have written to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urging him to invite Taiwan to attend WHO activities and meetings.

“I joined 15 other Congressional doctors in writing to @WHO urging the inclusion of Taiwan in international efforts to contain & combat COVID-19,” US Representative Brian Babin said on Twitter on Monday.

Public health should not be political, he said, adding that the exclusion of Taiwan “threatens the health security of all.”

A tweet by US Representative Brian Babin saying that he has joined a call urging the WHO to include Taiwan is pictured yesterday. Photo: screen grab from Twitter

The 16 lawmakers are affiliated with the GOP Doctors Caucus of the US House of Representatives.

They on Friday last week wrote to Tedros to express their “deep concern” at the WHO’s continued marginalization of Taiwan amid the global COVID-19 outbreak.

The exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO during the epidemic “has put people in Taiwan and around the world at greater risk while harming both the integrity of the WHO and the security of member states,” they said in the letter.

Noting that the coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on human life worldwide, they said: “While much of the loss of life has been contained to the Chinese mainland, one of the few lives lost abroad was that of a Taiwanese man, and we wonder whether this could have been prevented had Taiwan not been excluded from the WHO.”

“Leaving any one region out of the global health network creates a gap that undermines global public health and safety, and we believe Taiwan’s exclusion thus far has been an egregious handicap to the WHO and its member states’ health security,” the letter said.

“Furthermore, considering Taiwan’s proximity to the virus’ origin, both its inclusion in the WHO and attendance at World Health Assembly meetings are vital to the promotion of multilateral cooperation in the region,” it said.

The lawmakers asked Tedros to invite Taiwan to attend all WHO meetings, mechanisms and activities, including the 73rd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 17 to 21.

“Pandemics such as COVID-19 know no borders, and only by working alongside all our global partners may we eliminate this threat and ensure the integrity of global public health,” the letter said.