World is paying price for isolating Taiwan during SARS and COVID-19: WMA

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The World Medical Association (WMA) wrote a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) calling for Taiwan to be allowed to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA), reports said Friday (April 17).

The letter followed growing questions about the handling of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has been accused of towing the Chinese government’s line while engaging in a war of words with Taiwan.

According to the WMA letter, the virus outbreak has “illustrated with terrible consequences how wrong and damaging for global health it is to exclude Taiwan from unrestricted and effective participation in the World Health Organization.”

Both during the 2003 SARS crisis and the current pandemic, the WHO failed to pay sufficient attention to Taiwan, leaving the world “paying a high price,” said the letter signed by WMA Council Chairman Frank Ulrich Montgomery and WMA President Miguel Jorge.   [FULL  STORY]