‘Shunning Taiwan raises global bird-flu risk’

By Emily Smith

Date: 27/04/06

Keeping Taiwan out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is increasing the risk of a bird flu pandemic in Europe, MEPs have been warned.

Visiting the European Parliament hearing on Tuesday (25 April), experts said the EU should put pressure on China to remove its objections to Taiwanese involvement in WHO avian influenza defence structures like the World Health Assembly (WHA), whose next meeting is on 22 May.

"Bird flu recognises no borders," said Peter Chang of the Taiwan health ministry. "Taiwan has 200,000 health professionals who are willing to do whatever they can [to prevent the disease spreading]."

Taiwanese senator Winston Dang claimed that: "If China continues to oppose our participation it will hurt not just Taiwan but the rest of the world." He suggested Taiwan should have observer status like that given to Palestine.

Beijing only allows the island to join WHA meetings on a case-by-case basis. It has approved only 12 of the 32 Taipei requests to participate in meetings over the last two years.

Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson said Taiwan should have "immediate and direct access" to WHA meetings and the EU should push for "a proper global public health network, if we are to protect the world".

Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Disease stressed the importance of fully including eastern countries in the fight against bird flu, even when they were not fully functioning independent states.

"A remarkably high proportion of non-state entities lie in the migratory paths of birds. It is almost as if God was playing a joke when he designed the world."

But he said Taiwan was an area where the problem of co-operation in pandemic preparedness could be solved "at the stroke of a pen".

A report issued by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) into pandemic preparedness plans in Europe ranked France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK best, with an average score of more than 75%. In contrast, plans from Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal scored below 40%.

"Europe is moderately well-prepared, but gaps exist," said Dr Richard Coker, the report's lead author.

At a European Parliament hearing on 25 April 2006, experts said the EU should put pressure on China to remove its objections to Taiwanese involvement in WHO avian influenza defence structures like the World Health Assembly (WHA), whose next meeting was scheduled for 22 May 2006. They said that keeping Taiwan out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) was increasing the risk of a bird flu pandemic in Europe.