 |
 |
    |
||||||||||||||||
|
17.05.2002Support for Taiwan to receive observer status at WHOCommittee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country supports granting Taiwan observer status at the World Health Organization.Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country in its conviction that: 1. The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling on the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva to grant observer status to Taiwan at the next WHA session; 2. Considering that Taiwan became on January 1, 2002, member of the World Trade Organization, as the 144th party, inviting Taiwan to participate at the World Health Organization in an appropriate form would also be a reasonable and sensible step that would allow Taiwan to cooperate internationally on health care issues; 3. Health is a fundamental human right of every citizen of the world and access to high-quality information and care is crucial to ensure this right; 4. Direct and unlimited participation in world fora and programs of international cooperation in health care is, therefore, of vital importance, especially considering the growing potential for cross-border spread of infectious diseases, such as AIDS; 5. World Health Organization (WHO) in the first chapter of its constitution identifies as its goal “the attainment by all peoples of highest possible level of health”; 6. In 1977, WHO set “Health for All by 2000” as its top priority and reaffirmed this central vision by re-initiating the “Health for All” process in 1995; 7. The population of Taiwan – 23 million – is higher than that of more that three quarters of WHO member states; 8. Taiwan has achieved considerable successes in health care, including one of the highest life expectancies in Asia, lowest maternal and infant fatality, comparable with Western countries, eradication of such infectious diseases as cholera, smallpox, and plague, and as the first country eradicated polio, and provided children with free vaccination against hepatitis B; 9. WHO did not offer assistance to Taiwan during the Enterovirus 71 epidemic in 1998 that killed 70 Taiwanese children and infected over 1000 Taiwanese children; 10. In recent years, Taiwan has expressed its willingness to participate financially and technically in international aid and health-care activities supported by WHO, but was not allowed to provide such assistance in the end; 11. World Health Organization allows observers to participate in its activities; supports granting observer status at World Health Organization to Taiwan. Michael Zantovsky Chairman Jan Ruml Vice-Chairman Tomas Pojar Member Olympic Watch |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
