DOH lauds WHO compliance

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on May 19, 2006. It reports that the Department of Health recently sent a letter to the World Health Organization, in order to notify officials at the international health organization about Taiwan's early compliance with the International Health Regulations.

The International Health Regulations is a global framework for infectious disease control, which will come into force globally in June 2007. Revisions of the global framework were approved by the World Health Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization, in 2005.

According to the World Health Organization, all of its current member states will become state parties to the International Health Regulations. Those states that are not members of the World Health Organization may become state parties to the global framework by notifying the international health organization's officials of their acceptance.

The International Health Regulations will require all state parties of the World Health Organization to report any "public health emergency of international concern". As a result, in their letter, officials from the Department of Health included the contact information of Taiwan's "focal point" - the person who will be responsible for reporting to the World Health Organization about the nation's public health response to the spread of any infectious disease.

Taiwan's early compliance with the International Health Regulations is expected to boost communications between the nation's infectious disease control authorities and their counterparts in the international health community. This is a strategy that the United States, Japan and several European countries have advised Taiwan to follow, in order to boost Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization.

By taking the lead in early compliance with the International Health Regulations, Taiwan aims to become a model in implementing the global framework for infectious disease control. More significantly, Taiwan's action can also put pressure on China, because the implementation of the International Health Regulations requires a high degree of transparency in the reporting, surveillance, quarantine and verification standards of infectious diseases.

It remains to be seen whether the World Health Organization will recognize and discuss Taiwan's early compliance with the International Health Regulations in the forthcoming World Health Assembly meeting. If it does, then it will be a significant step forward for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization.