Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion moved by the member for Macquarie. As asserted by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation in a speech to the International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza in January this year, it is vital that all members of the international community work together to share information and expertise in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as avian influenza. In realising this objective, it is necessary to ensure that the global disease response and prevention framework operates seamlessly. The continued exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Organisation creates a significant gap in this framework, particularly given Taiwan’s emergence as a major hub of trade and commerce in the Asia-Pacific region. This exclusion increases the risk of the spread of infectious disease both amongst the 23 million people of Taiwan and, indeed, throughout the international community.

In global terms, the past decade has witnessed an increase in the level of interaction between peoples. As evidenced by the SARS crisis of 2003, this increasing mobility has also given rise to substantial difficulties in the area of disease prevention. Frustrated in its attempts to gain access to the global outbreak and response network of the World Health Organisation during this crisis, the health authorities in Taiwan were left to fight the disease alone, leading to the tragic death of 73 Taiwanese citizens, constituting one-fifth of the world’s SARS related fatalities. Similarly, Taiwan’s lack of real time access to the latest information about avian influenza threatens the global coordination effort and places an unfair burden on Taiwan’s medical authorities.

These problems serve to lessen the effectiveness of global disease prevention measures and to increase the chance of regional proliferation of communicable diseases. In this respect, it is extremely important that Taiwan is party to the early warnings, threat indicators, vaccines and other medical supplies, and the pool of combined scientific knowledge that the World Health Organisation has to offer.

Without question, the fight against a range of diseases, including malaria, smallpox, cholera, leprosy and HIV-AIDS have all been strengthened by the work of the World Health Organisation, often with remarkable results. Significantly, disease is no longer the only imperative. Now we have the added threat of chemical and biological terrorism. This must also be considered in the context of global health security. This threat provides yet another reason to encourage Taiwanese participation in the World Health Organisation.

By granting observer status to Taiwan at the World Health Organisation the international community would enhance its capacity to deal with these emerging and continuing threats. As mentioned earlier by the other honourable members, the World Health Organisation has previously sanctioned the participation of a number of observers, including the Holy See and the Palestinian Territories. Observer status is granted on humanitarian and health grounds and does not involve questions of political recognition.

Taiwan’s bid for participation as an observer in the World Health Organisation has gained widespread international support. Many governments and political organisations around the world have offered their support for this bid, including the US congress, the European Parliament, the Central American Parliament, the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, the Dominican Republic House of Representatives and the Philippines House of Representatives.

Furthermore, Taiwan has received extensive backing in this bid from the global medical community, including from the World Medical Association, the International Paediatric Association, the British Medical Association in the Lancet, the Standing Committee of European Doctors, the International Congress of Traditional Medicine and the Philippine Medical Association. Each of these organisations has realised the importance of bringing the people of Taiwan within the protection of the World Health Organisation.

Australia and Taiwan have longstanding friendly relations. Both have benefited from the close economic relationship that has been developed between us, and we in Australia welcome the emergence of Taiwan as one of the region’s strongest and most vibrant democracies. Yet, despite the great successes of Taiwan’s health care system and despite the significant technological advances that have delivered Taiwanese people the highest life expectancy in Asia, Taiwan has no access to the expert information, alert and response networks of the WHO. The admission of Taiwan to the WHO as an observer is not a political question. It is a question of recognising the right of the people of Taiwan to the highest attainable standards of health care. I urge all members to offer their support to this motion.

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