WHO excludes Taiwan from meeting on Coronavirus

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The World Health Organization (WHO) finally announced the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 31, 2020 over the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has spread in China’s Wuhan region since late 2019.

A statement from the Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO) received by Indonesia Window here on Friday mentioned that so far 20,000 cases had been detected and more than 400 people died.

A total of 25 countries have confirmed a number of coronavirus cases, pushing WHO to hold a conference on epidemic prevention.

However, Taiwan, with 11 cases of coronavirus and geographically close to China, has not been invited to the meeting.

The statement stressed that WHO’s stance in treating Taiwan as part of China seriously affected the rights of the 23 million people of Formosa Island.

Not only was the elected government of Taiwan invited to the WHO meeting, Taiwan experts were also rejected to participate in the technical meeting.

The conditions make Taiwan difficult to get complete and timely information about the latest epidemic updates. Taiwan is also excluded from discussions about virus prevention and control methods.

WHO principles of “Health for All” and “Don’t Leave Anyone Behind” are not for Taiwan.

WHO and Chinese authorities’ claim that they have shared information to Taiwan is untrue, the statement said.

Taiwan has established communication channels with WHO under the International Health Regulations (IHR) framework, yet WHO has not responded to specific requests from Taiwan to access information about corona outbreaks.

Safety

The WHO exception to Taiwan has an impact on the health and safety of Taiwanese and the international people, including around 300,000 Indonesian citizens living on the Formosa Island.

In the face of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic, the United States, Japan, the European Union, Canada, and Taiwan’s diplomatic countries has openly supported Taiwan’s participation and membership in WHO.

Taiwan calls on Indonesia and other countries to urge WHO to present information on the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic correctly and not to associate Taiwan with China.

With the supports of Indonesia and other world countries Taiwan expects to become an observer at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) and WHO meetings this year for the sake of the health and well-being of all humanity.

Reporting by Indonesia Window