US Foreign Affairs Committee votes to include Taiwan in World Health Organisation
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On 28 September, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed legislation which directs the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to restore Taiwan’s observer status in the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Coded as H.R. 3320, the bill introduced by US Representative Ted Yoho affirms that Taiwan remains a model contributor to world health, having provided financial and technical assistance for numerous global health challenges, investing over $6 billion in international aid efforts since 1996. Highlighting the risks of Taiwan’s absence from the WHO, the bill also asserted that diseases such as MERS, Dengue Fever and Zika are not bound by national borders, declaring that Taiwan’s exclusion increases the dangers presented by global pandemics.
Commenting on the passage of H.R. 3320, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ed Royce said ‘Infectious disease knows no borders and no one benefits when Taiwan is kept in the dark on critical matters like global health.’ He added that the bill ‘is a good way to counter the harmful and unacceptable efforts being made to undermine Taiwan’s inclusion.’