In light of a recent cluster of measles cases, Premier Lai Ching-te on Thursday directed the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to step up efforts to prevent the highly contagious disease while continuing to closely monitor the developing outbreak.
The year thus far has seen a total of 18 cases of measles in Taiwan, six introduced from abroad and 12 who developed symptoms locally following contact with one of the returning travelers. The premier instructed the MOHW to implement safeguards in coordination with other relevant ministries and agencies in order to prevent those who are sick from coming to Taiwan, stop the disease at the border, carry out community-based prevention, ensure a fully resourced health care system and provide guidance to families and individuals.
Contagious diseases know no borders, as evidenced by the present outbreak, which began overseas and was brought back to Taiwan by returning travelers, who transmitted the illness to local residents, who then traveled abroad and introduced the virus into Japan. As a member of the international community, Taiwan needs to cooperate with other nations to ensure a healthy world, Premier Lai emphasized.
The nation has long actively sought participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA), as such inclusion hopefully would not only allow Taiwan to expand its international room for maneuver, but even more importantly make it possible for the nation to fulfill its responsibilities to the world by furthering the establishment of global protections against communicable diseases. The premier directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the MOHW to emphasize this point abroad through Taiwan's representative offices as well as at home through engagement with foreign embassies and offices, in order to raise support internationally for Taiwan's participation in the WHA.