Commentary
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the World Health Organization’s decision-making body, will meet later this month for its annual summit. Over 190 countries will be represented at the conference, but Taiwan will not be one of them. The reason for this is because China’s political pressure has prevented Taiwan, a nation of 23 million people, from joining the WHO. However, in the interest of global health, Taiwan must be allowed as an observer to the WHA.
The WHA is a platform for member nations to discuss global health challenges and make choices that have an impact on the health of people everywhere, not a political forum. It is essential that Taiwan be permitted to participate in the WHA as an observer in order to share its expertise with the international health community. The exclusion of Taiwan violates its right to health and runs counter to the ideals of universal health care and international health security….