Taiwan has been excluded from participation in the World Health Organization despite its efforts to participate in the fight against the global COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, civic groups held a live video conference to share Taiwan’s experience and to call on the WHO to let Taiwan participate in its meetings.
On Tuesday, civic groups called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to put politics aside and let Taiwan join the global health body. They also called for WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to step down. Participants in the forum were the Taiwan UN Alliance, the Global Taiwan Medical Alliance and the Taiwan Global Health Alliance.
The head of the Taiwan UN Alliance Michael Tsai said that 80% of Taiwanese want Taiwan to join the WHO under the name “Taiwan”. The alliance sent a letter to the WHO saying that excluding Taiwan from the body goes against universal and basic health rights.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros also recently said that the pandemic should not be politicized.
Taiwan has been kept out of the World Health Assembly for three years in a row. Tsai said the reason Tedros has not invited Taiwan to participate in the WHA is China. He said that China’s WHO delegation is controlling all of this.
Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Huang Shiou-fang said Tedros’s collaboration with China led to this global pandemic. She said now it’s even more important to be united in the fight against the disease. Huang said Taiwan is able and willing to help.
