Premier Jiang Yi-huah today directed the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to closely monitor the spread of the Ebola virus, conduct case analyses and launch preparatory work as well as preventive measures to better protect citizens.
Jiang's direction came after a report by the MOHW at the Cabinet's weekly meeting on Taiwan's response to the recent outbreak in Africa, where Ebola hemorrhagic fever, listed by the ROC as a Category V communicable disease, has claimed numerous lives the past few months in the largest known outbreak in recent years. The World Health Organization and countries worldwide have expressed concerns over the epidemic, Premier Jiang said, and he reminded the public, especially medical personnel, to stay on high alert.
MOHW Minister Chiu Wen-ta said Taiwan has drafted a three-pronged approach to the epidemic:
Risk communication: Taiwan has issued a travel notice of "Level 2: Alert" for the affected region in West Africa, notified hospitals about the virus, prepared prevention pamphlets and provided relevant information on the website of the Centers for Disease Control.
Preparedness in manpower and resources: Preparatory work has followed the standard operation procedures for large-scale outbreaks of communicable diseases.
Monitoring and reporting: Taiwan aims to strengthen its reporting mechanism for infectious diseases, and it will immediately establish a response task force or an epidemic control center if any potential case is discovered.
The key is to step up monitoring of the epidemic both at home and abroad and make immediate responses, Minister Chiu stressed.