GHP and Digital Democracy Association cohost the Taiwan's WHA observer status advocacy event


       On May 21st, 2023, the Global Health Program and the Digital Diplomacy Association, in collaboration with the World Taiwan Foundation, co-organized the event titled "Let Taiwan Help: Why Should Taiwan Join the World Health Assembly? Inter-generational Inheritance and Experience Sharing of Civilian Actions." Approximately 30 students and members of the public attended the event in person, while around 60 people participated online. Five media outlets visited the event, resulting in coverage by approximately 10 media organizations, thus increasing the Global Health Program’s visibility.

 

       The event consisted of three parts. First, the press conference took place. The press conference featured speeches by ChiaYo Kuo, the President of the Digital Diplomacy Association, Assistant Professor Po-Han Lee from the Global Health Program, Project Assistant Professor JhuCin Rita Jhang, and GHP student Juliet Balkian. Juliet mentioned that she came to Taiwan during the COVID-19 outbreak and considered it a great opportunity to witness how the Taiwanese government was leading globally and swiftly responding to the pandemic. She compared her experiences in the United States and Taiwan and began reflecting on how a country, society, people, and policies interact and affect the results of epidemic prevention. She also expressed that it was unreasonable for Taiwan to be excluded from the WHO due to political factors.

 

       The second part is a speech by Assistant Professor Po-Han Lee, where he discussed the complexities between Taiwan and the World Health Assembly. The third part of the event was the live broadcast of the World Taiwan Foundation's WHA parallel forum titled "From SARS to COVID-19: Science, Medicine, and Human Solutions," held in Geneva. The parallel forum invited three experts and scholars from different fields: medical writer Mr. Vincenzo Varagona, former Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-Huey, and Executive Yuan Premier Chen Chien-Jen, to engage in discussions, and there were numerous officials from different countries at the event to show their support of Taiwan. 

 

       The attendees at the event included students from the Global Health Program, as well as several graduate students from other institutes within the CoPh. The students highly appreciated the event and expressed their affirmation. It was the first time they had witnessed such a large gathering advocating for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA).

 

Digital Democracy Association Chair ChiaYo Kuo, NTU GHP Project Assistant
Professor JhuCin Rita Jhang, NTU GHP Assistant Professor Po-Han Lee
(from left to right in the picture).

 

National Taiwan University's Master's student in Global Health Program, Juliet Balkian (first from
the left in the picture), shared her experience of studying in Taiwan during the pandemic. She was
amazed by the Taiwanese government's swift response to the epidemic and compared it to the
United States' overly lenient approach to epidemic prevention. She felt that Taiwan could
contribute significantly to the global public health system.