CALD Resolution No. 1 S. 2003

CALD Resolution No. 1 S. 2003

Resolution calling on all governments in the region to support Taiwan’s efforts to participate as an observer in the World Health Organization and other international and regional health mechanisms

Understanding that health is an indispensable condition for the development of nations for the human security of all peoples;

Accepting that the rapidly accelerating interdependence of the Asian region means that infectious diseases can spread easily among all countries in Asia, and that any gap in the international defense against such diseases can have dire consequences for the whole region;

Recognizing that the recent SARS epidemic has not only caused massive loss of life and economic hardship in the directly affected areas of East and South East Asia but also disrupted trade, tourism and business confidence throughout the region;

Noting that the people of Taiwan were particularly hardly affected because of their lack of access to the expertise and assistance of the WHO;

Noting that Taiwan’s request for inclusion in the WHO not as a full member but only as an observer has been pending for years, but that the outbreak proves that health issues affect all peoples indiscriminately;

Noting that the people living in Taiwan like all peoples are vulnerable to newly emerging diseases and needing the supporting mechanism of the WHO;

Recognizing that the United States, Japan, European Parliament, ELDR, World Medical Association, which has eight million physicians in seventy countries, as well as many other governments, parliamentarians and NGOs support Taiwan as an observer;

Believing that regional cooperation in the field of public health is of the utmost importance, and that no people should be left out;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats calls on all governments in the region to support Taiwan’s efforts to participate

as an observer in the World Health Organization and other international and regional health mechanisms.

For the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats:

M. R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, MP

Chairman

Bangkok, Thailand May 31, 2003