Taipei, Aug 10 (EFE) .- The United States will include Taiwan among those invited to be part of a possible new global health organization if it decides to create it when its departure from the World Health Organization (WHO) becomes official, the secretary said today American Health and Human Services, Alex Azar.
This was stated in a press conference held today in the framework of his visit to the island, that of a higher-ranking US official since 1979, the year in which Washington broke official ties with Taipei – although it maintains them unofficially – to establish them with Beijing after recognizing the People’s Republic of China.
“The United States has always been and will continue to be the world’s largest public health funder. We are still members of the WHO as the (exit) process will take time (…). But after our departure from WHO, we will work with others in the global community to find the appropriate means to continue support on a bilateral and multilateral basis, ”Azar explained.
After discussing this possible alternative, Azar responded to a question about whether the island would participate in it: “Of course we will talk to Taiwan and other entities as we move forward.”
In recent months, voices have increased demanding the inclusion of Taiwan in the WHO after its success in containing the coronavirus.
Taiwan does not belong to the world health organization because it is not a member of the UN either, and Beijing requires any country that wishes to establish ties with China to break them with Taiwan, which is leaving it increasingly isolated in the international arena.
Despite its geographical proximity to China, and the cultural and commercial ties that link both sides of the Formosa Strait, Taiwan was among the first territories worldwide to establish prophylactic measures after the first coronavirus outbreak was reported in Wuhan (center of China).
Thus, according to official data from the Island’s Center for Disease Control, since the beginning of the pandemic only 480 infections and seven deaths have been registered.
In his speech today, Azar assured that US President Donald Trump, announced the departure of the country from WHO because he was frustrated that the institution seemed “incapable and reluctant” to reform itself to “ensure objective and transparent behavior on the part of the member states”, referring to China.
According to Washington, the WHO acted in a “biased” way in favor of China and mismanaged the health emergency of COVID-19, for which it announced that it was temporarily freezing its contribution – of up to 500 million dollars annually, 15% of the budget of the body- and, subsequently, began the process to withdraw, which would culminate on July 6, 2021.
Azar said today that Taiwan’s response to the pandemic has been “one of the most successful in the world” in both detection and management and in “sharing its findings with other nations,” a good job that he attributed to “values shared democracy ».
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