JOINT RESOLUTION ENDORSING TAIWAN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

WHEREAS,  good health is essential to every citizen of the world, and access to health information and services of the highest standard is necessary to improve public health; and

WHEREAS,  the World Health Organization set forth in the first chapter of its charter the objective of attaining the highest possible level of health for all persons; and

WHEREAS,  the achievements of Taiwan, the Republic of China, in the field of health are substantial, including having the highest life expectancy levels in Asia, having maternal and infant mortality rates comparable to those of western countries, eradicating infectious diseases such as cholera, smallpox and the plague and being the first country in Asia to eradicate polio and provide children with Hepatitis B vaccinations; and

WHEREAS,  Taiwan's population of 23.5 million is larger than that of 3/4 of the member states already in the World Health Organization; and

WHEREAS,  the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Taiwanese counterpart agencies have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide range of public health issues; and

WHEREAS,  in recent years Taiwan has expressed a willingness to assist financially and technically in international health activities supported by the World Health Organization; and

WHEREAS,  with the great potential of the cross-border spread of diseases, such as the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV; tuberculosis; malaria; severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, in 2002; and the recent outbreak of avian flu, it is crucial for all countries, including Taiwan, to have direct and unobstructed access to information and assistance from the World Health Organization in order to limit successfully the spread of various infectious diseases; and

WHEREAS,  the European Parliament called on the World Health Assembly, in Geneva, Switzerland, to accept observer status for Taiwan and on its member states to support the application of Taiwan as an observer to the World Health Organization; and

WHEREAS,  in 2002, the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate authorized the Secretary of State to endorse observer status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, and the House repeated its endorsement in 2006; now, therefore, be it

That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Legislature now assembled in the First Special Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this opportunity to commend Taiwan's efforts to improve world health and support its efforts to gain observer status at the World Health Organization; and be it further

That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States; to Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; to Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland; and to K.T. Yang, Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston, Massachusetts.