TY - JOUR
T1 - Closing the international health gaps
T2 - Taiwan comes in from the cold
AU - Chang, Peter W S
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - A revised set of International Health Regulations came into force in June 2007. A month earlier, The Lancet had noted the importance of filling the remaining gaps in the global health system. One of these gaps was the exclusion of Taiwan from the structures of the World Health Organization (WHO), denied a presence at the World Health Assembly and able to communicate with the WHO only through a complex and time-consuming bureaucratic process. This situation was becoming increasingly indefensible in the face of clear difficulties in transmitting information about epidemic diseases, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the growing threat of avian influenza since 2004. This is at last being addressed following a landmark decision to admit Taiwan to observer status at the World Health Assembly in May 2009. These developments will be addressed in this article.
AB - A revised set of International Health Regulations came into force in June 2007. A month earlier, The Lancet had noted the importance of filling the remaining gaps in the global health system. One of these gaps was the exclusion of Taiwan from the structures of the World Health Organization (WHO), denied a presence at the World Health Assembly and able to communicate with the WHO only through a complex and time-consuming bureaucratic process. This situation was becoming increasingly indefensible in the face of clear difficulties in transmitting information about epidemic diseases, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the growing threat of avian influenza since 2004. This is at last being addressed following a landmark decision to admit Taiwan to observer status at the World Health Assembly in May 2009. These developments will be addressed in this article.
KW - cross-cultural communication
KW - inequalities in health
KW - medicolegal issues
KW - peace studies
KW - resources
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80053894718&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80053894718&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1010539509355189
DO - 10.1177/1010539509355189
M3 - Article
C2 - 20685662
AN - SCOPUS:80053894718
SN - 1010-5395
VL - 23
SP - 810
EP - 812
JO - Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
JF - Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
IS - 5
ER -