SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 50
WHEREAS, good health is important to every citizen of the world and access to the highest standards of health information and services is necessary to improve the public health; and
WHEREAS, direct and unobstructed participation in international health cooperation forums and programs is beneficial for all parts of the world, especially today with the great potential for the cross-border spread of various infectious diseases such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis, and malaria; and
WHEREAS, Taiwan's population of 23,500,000 people is greater than three-fourths of the member states already in the World Health Organization (WHO); and
WHEREAS, Taiwan's achievements in the field of health are substantial, including:
(1) Attaining one of the highest life expectancy levels in Asia, and maternal and infant mortality rates comparable to those of western countries; and
(2) Eradicating such infectious diseases as cholera, smallpox, the plague, and polio; and
(3) Providing children with hepatitis B vaccinations; and
WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its counterpart agencies in Taiwan have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide range of public health issues; and
WHEREAS, in recent years Taiwan has expressed a willingness to assist financially and technically in international aid and health activities supported by the WHO; and
WHEREAS, on January 14, 2001, an earthquake, registering between 7.6 and 7.9 of the Richter scale, struck El Salvador. In response, the Taiwanese Government sent two rescue teams, consisting of ninety individuals specializing in firefighting, medicine, and civil engineering. The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also donated $200,000 in relief aid to the Salvadoran Government; and
WHEREAS, the World Health Assembly has allowed observers to participate in the activities of the organization, including the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1974, the Order of Malta, and the Holy See in the early 1950s; and
WHEREAS, the United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, declared its intention to support Taiwan's participation in appropriate international organizations; and
WHEREAS, in light of all benefits that Taiwan's participation in WHO can bring to the state of health not only in Taiwan, but also regionally and globally, Taiwan and its 23,500,000 people should have appropriate and meaningful participation in the WHO; and
WHEREAS, in 2003, the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused 73 deaths in Taiwan; and
WHEREAS, avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has reemerged in Asia, with strains of the influenza reported by the People's Republic of China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos; and
WHEREAS, the SARS and avian influenza outbreaks illustrate that disease knows no boundaries and emphasize the importance of allowing all people access to the WHO; and
WHEREAS, as the pace of globalization quickens and the spread of infectious disease accelerates, it is crucial that all people, including the people of Taiwan, be given the opportunity to participate in international health organizations such as the WHO:
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Missouri Senate, Ninety-Second General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the House of Representatives concurring therein, hereby support observer status for Taiwan at the annual week-long summit of the World Health Assembly (WHA) held by the World Health Organization (WHO) in May of each year in Geneva, Switzerland; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Missouri Senate be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for the World Health Organization.