Abstract
Global health affairs have professional as well as political features and are inexorably a part of foreign policy. These characteristics were manifested in Taiwan's isolation from international society during the SARS outbreak in 2003, Indonesia's viral sovereignty dispute in the 2006 H5N1 epidemic and the WHO website's inaccurate presentation of information in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Taiwan. Despite these events, Taiwan's health officials have responded in ways that display the weakness of their understanding regarding global health issues and their lack of global perspective. In the future, Taiwan's representatives should be able to comprehend the complexity of global health affairs and be familiar with the political and diplomatic maneuvers involved in these matters. It is only then that our national dignity can be upheld, our participation in the international community increased, and the health of humankind and the human rights of the people of Taiwan protected.
Translated title of the contribution | Influenza and Global Governance: Global Health and Foreign Policy |
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Original language | English |
Pages (from-to) | 219-227 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | 臺灣民主季刊 |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - Jun 1 2009 |
Keywords
- global health
- foreign policy
- global government
- sovereignty
- International Health Regulations