SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 8
1. 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 with today's greater potential for the cross-border spread of various infectious diseases; 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; and
WHEREAS, Taiwan's achievements in the field of health are substantial, including achieving one of the highest life expectancy levels in Asia; lowering maternal and infant mortality rates to a level comparable to those of western countries; eradicating such infectious diseases as cholera, smallpox, the plague, and polio; and providing children with hepatitis B vaccinations; and
WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Taiwan counterpart agencies 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 World Health Organization; 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:
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Missouri Senate, Ninety-Third General Assembly, First Regular Session, the House of Representatives concurring therein, hereby support observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization; 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.