By Caribbean News Now contributor
LONDON, England – The World Medical Association (WMA) has again called for Taiwan to be given observer status at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The WMA argues that the inclusion of Taiwan is a health matter and not a political issue.
The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is attended by delegates from all member states. For several years, Taiwan was given observer status, but in 2017 and 2018 it was refused, access to the assembly.
In a letter to World Health Organization director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WMA leaders said: “We as physicians are very much concerned that all nations, regions and territories should be able to participate in and profit from the work of WHO. We therefore hope that delegates from Taiwan will again be allowed to observe the World Health Assembly and experts from Taiwan will have a real chance to participate in technical meetings.”
WMA president, Dr Leonid Eidelman said: “Universal health coverage demands that no part of the world should be blocked from participating at the World Health Assembly. The millions of Taiwanese people deserve their health interests to be represented.”
In response to the WHO, the goal of achieving universal health coverage, Taiwan launched one of the world’s highest praised National Health Insurance (NHI) initiatives, covering 23 million…
