Taipei, May 10 (CNA) Taiwan has been described as a "good teammate" in the game of world health, one which the world can not afford to lose, and which does not deserve to be left out in the cold, civil groups said Thursday in a press conference to announce an urban hike to promote for Taiwan's application to enter the World Health Organization (WHO).
Taiwan has been making a contribution to improving global health, sending medical missions worldwide, and is always on the frontlines in providing international emergency relief where needed, representatives from various organizations said.
For example, Taiwan sent medical missions overseas during the tsunami in South Asia, the earthquake in Indonesia, and to a number of small countries in need, such as Tuvalu and Solomon Islands. The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) has been sending medical missions abroad since 1962, and the Taiwan Nurses Association has been offering international relief services for the past 20 years.
Despite the international community's awareness that "diseases knows no boundaries, and there shouldn't be any gaps in the international disease-prevention network, " Taiwan has been unable to participate in the WHO since it withdrew from the organization in 1972.
"The WHO was established with the goal of helping all peoples attain the highest possible levels of health. However, the 23 million people of Taiwan were treated like orphans during the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2003, " said former health minister Lee Ming-liang.
Taiwan has had its WHO bids constantly rejected despite the fact that, according to a public poll, 94.7 percent of Taiwanese people support Taiwan's bid for membership in the WHO, and 111 legislators supported the latest bid.
Taiwan's membership bid has become an annual activity -- and disappointment -- but supporters were jubilant over this year's new tactics, which saw Taiwan apply to enter the WHO as a full member rather than joining the World Health Assembly (WHA) , the decision-making body of the WHO, as an observer.
"Now we're bidding for full membership. Even though it is still very difficult [to win approval] this year, we will be coming back strong every year, " said Tsuang Ming-sion, superintendent of Sin Lau Hospital. Tsuang will lead a group of 70 persons to promote Taiwan's WHO bid in Geneva, where the WHA annual meeting will be held from May 14.
Taiwan has obviously been excluded from the WHO for political reasons, given that the nation's medical systems globally rank in the top 30 percent, said Lee Tzu-yao, a veteran doctor who is a member of the Foundation of Medical Professional Alliances in Taiwan (FMPAT).
"We are human, not animals. The people of Taiwan should stand up and speak for themselves," Lee stressed.
The hike "Be WHO! Taiwan, " jointly organized by the Taiwan International Health Action (Taiwan IHA) and eight other organizations, will be held simultaneously in Taipei and Kaohsiung May 12, with the expected number of participants pegged at 20,000, said Taiwan IHA, an ad hoc inter-ministerial body established in 2006 to integrate public and private resources for Taiwan's international humanitarian and medical relief efforts.