In the News

WHO adds 'Chinese Taipei' to alert update

• Publication Date：05/27/2009
• Source： China Times

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the World Health Organization has ceased listing cases of A (H1N1) influenza in Taiwan as being those of China. MOFA spokesperson Henry Chen said May 26 that, following talks with the WHO, MOFA convinced the organization to include influenza A (H1N1) cases in Taiwan as being those of “Chinese Taipei.” Now both the table and the map on the WHO’s Web site indicating cases of the disease show Taiwan’s cases as being separate from those of mainland China.

The WHO had placed Taiwan’s cases of influenza under China on its update of influenza cases as reported by countries around the world, the ministry said. As a result of Taiwan’s having lodged a protest against this, Update 37 released on May 23 listed Chinese Taipei’s cases in a footnote separate from China’s cases.

In its alert map, however, the organization placed an asterisk beside China, noting at the bottom of the map that Chinese Taipei reported its first confirmed case May 23. The asterisk was not placed on the May 25 alert map of Update 38 at MOFA’s insistence.

Chen explained that the foreign ministry has engaged in negotiations with the WHO through Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva, urging the world body to make corrections. “Chinese Taipei” is now used to denote cases of A (H1N1) influenza in Taiwan on the alert site and its map. The tallies for Taiwan and mainland China are now separate with no special annotation or parenthetical explanation.